On March 25th, students and professors gathered to learn and then demonstrate Holi festival of colors. Holi is a Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring.  

Graduate students, Kadir Ali, Salmon, and Dhivya, from southern India gave a presentation on the history and culture of Holi. The students spoke on how the celebration of Holi is based on three main things: As mentioned, the arrival of Spring, the victory of good over evil; the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu, and to celebrate the divine love between the deities Radha and Krishna. Dhivya went into great detail on the stories of the victory of good, the story of Holika, and the divine love of Radha and Krishna. 

“The only real research we had to do was the background and the history of the victory of good over evil and the divine love of Radha and Krishna everything else we knew going into it,” Dhivya said in a post-presentation interview.  

Professor Lala also gave a presentation on Holi and gave his perspective on the celebration. His presentation had a slide that broke down each color’s meaning to Holi, red for prosperity, blue for longevity, green for happiness, orange for progress, pink for friendship, and white for peace.  

“For me and many children growing up with Holi it is a way for you to experiment with colors and also meet many new people and potentially even the one you like,” Professor Lala said during his presentation. 

Professor Pico along with the multicultural center, provided for the event with sweets you would find in India.  

“In my Folklore 101 class, I wish for my students to learn about a nation’s traditions and customs and offer them a hands-on experience,” Pico said. “I try to bring the world into my class!” 

After the presentations, students and staff headed out to the yard where they celebrated Holi down by the witches’ hut.  

“It was a lot of fun, but I’ll tell you what it took me five showers before I got all the colors off of me,” Charlie Conkle said.