Holi - Festival of Colors, Harry Krishna Temple, Spanish Fork, Utah

Before...

My roommate, Sandesh, and I go green

And then...









Comments

mj said…
well it looks very fun, but does there happen to be any meaning to it?
8:41 PM
SJ said…
Yes, the festival of colors celebrates the beginning of spring. It celebrates the colors that start to come out and the beginning of this living, colorful season. They celebrate it the same way all over India. At the Harry Krishna temple they do this count down and then everybody throws this colored powder stuff in the air. It gets so cloudy you can barely breathe. You throw it on everybody - friends, strangers, everyone. Tons of fun. Then you chant and sing about Harry Krishna

Harry Krishna, Harry Krishna, Krishna, Krishna
Rama Krishna

There's also food in the temple, but you must dust off and take off your shoes. There is ritual and erratic dancing on the upper floor. It is a delirious dance that symbolizes their devotion to their god (which is a golden idol that they make and then keep in the temple along with his god wife which is also an idol and some of his court and concubines, etc). They feed the god and sing praises to his name.

Kinda crazy, but an eye-opening cultural experience. The color part is really, really fun...and all this in Spanish Fork, Utah in a temple that looks like the Taj Mahal, in the middle of nowhere.
11:19 PM
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