Sunday, March 29, 2009

Holi - Festival of Colors

Last year my sister Jessica went to the Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, Utah.




She raved about it and so this year I knew I had to go. It was amazing. There had to have been between 3,000-5,000 people (mostly BYU students) throwing 25,000 bags of colored powdered scented with Jasmine, Lavendar, and Mocha, while jumping and chanting.


I bought my five bucks worth of blue, green, and pink powders and went down into the mix before the ruckus began.


Paul took the high ground on the balcony of the temple where he could stay clear of the worst of the multi-hued dust that was being thrown everywhere and instead take photos of the melee.




Before the throwing started, Paul somehow spotted his brother John making his way through the crowd with his friend (I'm not quite sure what level that relationship is at so I'm just sticking with "friend" for now) Nikki.



They hadn't remembered to bring cash to purchase the bags of powder so I shared mine. We maneuvered through the jostling crowd while Indian music played and dancers performed and were in the center of it all when the effigy of Hollika was lit on fire signaling the beginning of the throwing.


The fragrant pink, purple, yellow, orange, green, magenta, and blue haze was choking it was so thick.


Most people were either grim-faced,


or suppressing laughter with their lips pressed tightly together to keep out the choking rainbow cloud.



But others just inhaled the dust and grinned purplish grins while tossing fistfuls of dust joyously into the air.



By wearing my sunglasses, I was able too keep the worst of the dust from my eyes, but really there wasn't much protection once I was in the thick of things.


11 comments:

  1. Wow! What an amazing experience! I've never heard of it. What a backdrop of snow-covered peaks too! And John is older than 12?! Wha?! OMG.

    P.S. I owe you an email back! :)

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  2. Paul- how is that POSSIBLY Johnny???? I just...can't even believe it. I mean I know he's obviously gotten older, but that's supposed to mean he's like 15 or 16. Matt and David are the same age. Are Johnny and Joseph the same? Or is Johnny the same as Dallin (the youngest)? Is he leaving on the mish or back from the mish?
    -Bethany

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  3. That looks like soooo much fun! Of course the photos were SWEET-makes me wish I was there! Very VERY cool! And I'm with everyone else about JOhnny... I still remember him as a deacon-isnt he STILL that little??!?!? Guess not!

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  4. Wow! what a cool experience. The pictures were Awesome!

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  5. Those are some really great pictures. Looks like you had a lot of fun. As a side I am now friends with Spencer and Amanda on facebook. Kinda crazy. They have three cute kids.

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  6. That is CRAZY! I went there a few times for some festivals but I had never heard about this one. Also, I had forgotten how beautiful the mountains are in Utah Valley. Great photos!

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  7. I've been to that festival when I worked for the newspaper. It's crazy, uh? Your photos are better than the newspaper's photographer's photos. You should do freelance photojournalism on the side. Seriously, I love you guys' pictures.

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  8. Sure makes your teeth look EXTREMELY white!

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  9. That looks like fun. I always wanted to go to that, but never made it. Your pictures turned out great too! My younger brother was there too enjoying the colors.

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  10. i am very happy to see that u all like this festival Holi, Indian holi is a great festival.

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  11. Wow, every photo I've seen as I blog hop on the celebration of Holi festival speaks two things - festivity and fun! Wow, I wish I could personally celebrate this festival at one time. This year's Holi is coming so here's expressing my happy holi wishes to all. Have fun on Holi!

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