Celebration of Holi festival on March 25 in front of the dining hall. UP photo by Clarissa Hernandez.
The Holi festival is an ancient Indian tradition that celebrates the coming into spring in March and the beginning of harvesting season and is recognized by the use of bright colored powders by participants.
The two-day celebration was sponsored by The International Student Council and Global Goodwill Ambassadors March 25 in front of the Dining Hall organized the Holi festival in front of the Dining hall.
The observance is marked with the first day being about prayer and the second day the celebration.
“This is the middle of spring celebration, basically during this time back in Indian people are just partying, it’s basically the festival of colors that we call it,” Kavya Bhatt MBA in healthcare said.
The celebration is also called The Festival of Spring or the Festival of Colors originates from the Indian subcontinent, but it widely practiced by South Asians throughout communities around the world.
“Before the big celebration we usually do a bonfire, the bonfire is made for us to put in our bad emotions and bad intentions and the next day is when we celebrate Holi,” Rushika Ajudiya President of the International Student Council said.
The students played traditional Indian music and American music during the celebration. The students danced to the music as they threw the colored powder to each other. The colored powder signifies joy and the spread of love and happiness.
Some of the traditional food that was given out during the celebration was samosa, mix vegetables pakoda, potato pakoda, onion pakoda and gulab jamun.
Ajudiya said having students from a variety of racial and religious backgrounds made the event’s turnout better and she added that this year’s event was the largest the group has held.
“Every year we celebrate Holi for the diverse culture of Lamar and the friendships of every different country, all of our friends come and support us,” Ajudiya said.
The Holi celebration has been organized by the International Student Council (ISC) since 2019. The ISC has also organized other events this year, including the cultural fest, a bad Minton event and a multicultural dance event.
For more information about upcoming events you can contact the ISC president at Rajudiya@lamar.edu.
Celebration of Holi festival on March 25 in front of the dining hall. UP photo by Clarissa Hernandez.