Holi festival 2012
The Hindu believers from all over the world celebrate the Holi festival, a festival of colors that is celebrated when the spring comes, a festival that lasts for two straight weeks. During one of the Holi days, people of the community splash colored powder or water one to the other, celebrating the joy of a new beginning.
When is the festival celebrated?
The Indians celebrate the beginning of spring for two straight weeks. This period is called the Holi, or the celebration of colors, and it is celebrated at the end of the winter, starting with the last day of the full moon, which is usually in the last period of February, or in the beginning of March. The festival signifies the joy of a new beginning, and the tradition requests for your enemies to become friends, and the ugly things must be forgotten.
source: flickr.com/photos/jpereira_net/2896068881/
The Holi festival not only takes place in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, but also in other countries with a significant Indian community, such as:
- United Kingdom
- USA
- Fiji
The most significant Holi festival are held in the region of Braj, being connected with the god Krishna. Those places are now touristic attractions, especially for the period of the festival.
This celebration can be considered as a celebration of love. It is believed that Krishna was unhappy of the contrast of his dark skin, compared with the color of the skin of Radha. Therefore, he decided to throw a color on the face of his beloved Radha. This gesture was taken by other people, and it has become a tradition. This is why during the festival; people have to throw powder and colored water one on the other. this usually happens for the first day of the Holi. the colored water must also be perfumed with flowers that are harvested from the trees. The flowers are harvested, squashed and mixed with water, and the yellow-orange water is obtained.
Another traditional element of this holiday is a red powder that is obtained in Lakh globes, which break at contact, spreading the dust.
US celebrating the Festival of Colors (Holi)
source: flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/7664933294/
If you are a tourist in India, it is a pity not to attend the festival. make sure to take a few spare clothes in your luggage, and be careful! The colors that will be thrown at you are resistant, therefore you will almost certainly need to throw the respective clothes away once they are used during the festival.
The spring is a beautiful period for each one of us, and each culture chooses to celebrate this period in a certain manner. however, it seems like the habits in India, and especially the ones of the Holi festival are the most interesting in the whole world, being a reason for thousands of tourists to come here. The Holi festival 2012 means a combination of colors, but also happy people, a new beginning, and most importantly, the power to forget and to start a new life cycle, and to make peace with people around you.
