Holi is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs as a festival of colors. Indian people believe it is a time of enjoying spring’s abundant colors and saying farewell to winter. It’s celebrated by people throwing colored powder and colored water at each other. They also light bonfires on the eve of the festival in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad (a devotee of the god Vishnu) accomplished when demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt, but Prahlad, the staunch devotee of Vishnu, escaped without injury because of his unshakable devotion. People gather around the bonfire and celebrate the event with singing and dancing, which is symbolic of the victory of good over evil. Sikhs celebrate it as “Hola Mahalla” in Punjab, a state of India, to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles.
Ankita Trivedi, the vice president of Sangam, said, “When we celebrate Holi, we are celebrating happiness and brightness, and hope and joy, and want to continue bringing this annual event to UCF.”
This year, Holi is on March 27, but the Sangam Indian Student Association (ISA) celebrated the festival early, this past Sunday, March 23. This has been Sangams’ seventh year hosting the Holi Festival for students, faculty and the pubic, gathering at Lake Claire to celebrate. The traditional throwing of bags of colored powder and water at each other and preparing Indian food to serve to the guests carried on throughout the afternoon. Traditionally, people show up in white clothing, and by the end of the day, their clothing is a rainbow of different colors. Sangam hopes to continue this tradition every year at UCF.
Taranjeet Bhatia, president of Sangam explained how this festival is not just for celebration by Hindus and Sikhs, but also is a time for all to celebrate each others’ diversity.
“Nature takes care of every flower in the spring, regardless of color, and the garden looks beautiful with many different colors. We are a race of one mother earth, with different colors but together with all different colors, we are a beautiful garden. So hug me and put on me your color. Happy Holi,” Bhatia said.
Ashwin Kumar, a second year Masters student studying Microelectronics, has been to the Holi festival in India as well as at UCF, “There are a lot less people attending here,” he said, “but it is just as much fun, and it has nostalgic memories.”
Sangam was formed in 1983 by a small group of graduate students and faculty from India who used to have informal get together potluck dinners, picnics at Lake Claire and performances at the Live Oak room. Sangam started with about 10 to 15 Indian students and now number over 500.
Sangam is also organizing Sangam Talent show on March 31 as a big Holi celebration in the Ferrell commons auditorium. For more information on Sangam Got Talent, follow this link: http://sangamucf.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/sangam-got-talent-holi-talent-show-ucf/.
For more information on Sangam, the Indian Student Association at the University of Central Florida, follow this link: http://sangam.ucf.edu/index.php.