Holi

Last Spring, my Facebook feed lit up with photographs of my friends covered in brightly colored chalk dust, looking like Human Tie-Dyed Easter eggs.  This was the first I had heard of the Holi Festival, an Indian tradition that has recently become more popular in the United States.  It looked like such fun, I immediately searched the internet and found an ISKCON near me which puts on Holi every year and filed it away to remember for the next year.

A year later, we found ourselves driving to Potomac, Maryland for the DC ISKCON's annual Holi Festival. The ISKCON is located just outside the beltway, surrounded by rolling green hills, country clubs, and stately mini-mansions.  The property itself is a grouping of unremarkable white buildings circling an empty square, a small playground and a rather large vegetable garden.  We parked and picked our way through the garden and past a couple of very content looking cows--apparently pleased to have landed themselves the sweetest position to which an American cow could aspire--a suburban Hindu religious center.

The weather was absolutely perfect, blue skies with puffy white clouds and bright green grass, contrasting nicely with our new, clean white T-shirts.

As we approached the square, two beautiful young women rushed over to greet us calling, "Welcome!  Welcome!  Happy Holi!  Happy Holi!"  They each carried a small plastic bag full of brightly colored dust and, dipping their fingers into the dust, stroked each of our cheeks, leaving a smear of color--Blue, Blue, Green, Green, "Happy Holi!"  The powder had the texture of Corn Starch and incredibly intense colors that cling to your skin.  We returned their Holi greetings, thanked them and hurried to purchase our own colors--one bag for each of us: red, orange, yellow, purple, blue and green.  I had expected Holi to be something like a water fight, but with colored powder instead of water--throwing handfuls of powder and chasing each other around.  There was some of that, mostly from young children, but   more often it was a gentle touch, like the young women who greeted us--a caress on your cheek, a brotherly pat on the back, a sprinkle over your head like a blessing, or a handful of dust throw in the air to rain down over whomever.  

On a platform, a band comprised mostly of drums and single vocalist played upbeat tunes, varying in tone and melody, but always consisting of the same lyrics:
                                    Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna
                                    Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
                                    Hare Rama Hare Rama
                                    Rama Rama Hare Hare
Everyone dances, some people sing along, everyone is full of smiles and friendship and an intense sense of community--every person greeting everyone else like a long lost friend.

Gavin was sold on the concept of Holi before we even arrived.  He'd been chanting "Color Festival!  Color Festival!" all morning and it was everything he'd wanted it to be.  He was encouraged to throw chalk dust at people!  He was covered in color and mess and everyone thought it was wonderful!  And he is so cute and charismatic, everyone wanted to interact with him and take his picture--he was flashing his Model Grin at everyone and absolutely in heaven.

The older children alternated between playfully chasing each other and carefully painting each other.  Young enough to enjoy the fun, but old enough to feel a little self conscious at first.

Jasper was extremely reticent about the whole thing.  He did not want people touching him, and it took some coaxing for him to throw handfuls of color himself.  Though, eventually, he really enjoyed throwing it at people's backs (safer that way).  He did however, love the music and was surprisingly taken by the Hare Krishna meditation practices.

After playing Holi for an hour or so, we purchased traditional Indian meals--rice and a spicy curry type dish with tofu and vegetables and a serving of something that had the texture of grits and tasted of cinnamon and pineapple.

 After eating, Gavin went to play on the playground, the older kids returned to the Holi play and Jasper and I ventured over to check out the awning labeled "Free Yoga Meditation."  A small group of people sat cross legged in a circle, as we approached we were welcomed and handed a string of beads.  I sat down as the instructor began speaking.  Jasper started to wander off and I moved to follow him, but the man who'd handed me the beads said Jasper was fine, just looking at some pictures on the awning, and that he'd keep an eye on him.  He shortly got bored with the pictures and came and sat beside me.  The instructor handed him some beads too and we joined in the Hare Krishna chant, which lasted a lot longer than I expected.   I was amazed that Jasper sat through the whole thing.  Then the instructor explained a bit about the Hare Krishna philosophy.  "We are not our bodies," he explained, "I am not my body any more than I am my shirt.  We are eternal, intelligent souls, living inside our bodies.  The soul is eternal and full of joy and peace.  But we do not always feel at peace and joy--we feel anger and sadness and fear.  Why is this?"   He went on to say that our bodies and our minds can distract us from our true selves.  That we need to take time apart, in quiet and focus, to meditate and connect with God, to feel peace and wholeness.  That this is the purpose of the Hare Krishna chant--to help us to focus on God.
It was nice to learn a little about the belief system and not just enjoy the frolicking.  Also nice to find elements of their beliefs that align well with my own.  The more belief systems I am exposed to, the more I realize that most of us are seeking the same things.   We disagree about the details, but we're all working for basically the same goals.
We also, all of us, visited their temple, where priests in toga-like robes lit incense, played drums and sang the Hare Krishna chant.  The ceremony began with just two people, but like a flash mob, it grew--people stepping out of the crowd to sing, or play small finger cymbals, or even bringing out more drums.  Women with small lamps, like miniature Aladdin lamps, moved through the crowd.  They showed us to run our fingers over the flames and then over our heads.  The older three children got restless after a while, but Jasper didn't want to leave.  

Exiting the temple, we returned to the crowd just in time to hear the vocalist calling everyone to gather together.  He told stories of Gods moving mountains and shielding their faithful followers from tremendous floods (stories with elements familiar to our Judeo-Christian tales.)  During parts of the stories he would ask people to throw certain colors or chalk in the air.  Then everyone counted down, New Year's style, before we all threw chalk in the air in unison crying "Happy Holi!" as the music picked up and everyone began dancing again.

By then, most of the kids were getting tired.  Gideon was hungry because he hadn't been very adventurous about the food (and was allergic to some of it, which limited his options.)  Gavin would have stayed for much longer (the festival went on for several hours after we left and I think Gavin would have shut it down if we'd let him) but we dragged him off and headed home to the most colorful showers of our lives.  The bathroom is coated in a film of purple dust I'm not sure we'll ever entirely be rid of!

It was a wonderful time, a great celebration of Springtime and Love and Friendship and a nice addition to our Easter Weekend Festivities.