If you like Indian food and music and want to join others in a fun and energetic party, check out the annual Holi festival The afternoon was still bright at around 5 p
If you like Indian food and music and want to join others in a fun and energetic party, check out the annual Holi festival
The afternoon was still bright at around 5 p.m. last Saturday, but the 2F Gate of the Jakarta International Expo (JI Expo) in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, was already bustling with sights, smells and sounds.
Speakers stacked on a stage set up in the center of the outdoor venue emitted upbeat Indian dance tunes, with their distinctive patterns of bass lines and percussion. While at the food stalls on the fringes of the venue, some chefs were preparing Indian food, spreading their mouth-watering aroma all over the space.
They were preparing for a celebration: that evening, on March 11 starting from 6 p.m., the India Club Jakarta had organized an event called HoliHai!, an evening dedicated to celebrating the Spring Festival.
“We celebrate this spring festival every year, mainly in the northern and central parts of India, to mark the transition from winter to spring, when crops are ready for harvest,” India Club Jakarta president Rakesh Jain explained.
According to Jain, during the festival people pour or spray different colored powder and water on other people, including friends, relatives and even strangers. They also rub colors on the faces of people. These colors epitomize the main colors of plants and flowers that blossom in the springtime. This activity symbolizes forgiveness and the restoration of human relationships despite any wrongdoings that might have happened throughout the year.
“Furthermore, by rubbing everyone present with colors, the festival also conveys the idea that everyone is equal, regardless of whether they are poor or rich,” he continued.
India Club Jakarta joint secretary ShailendraHalbe said that although the event attracted mostly Indian expatriates, it was not exclusive and was open to Indonesians and people from other expatriate communities as well.
The Holi festival is celebrated not only in India but also in many countries in Europe and North America.
ROOTS IN MYTHOLOGY
The first and most popular legend associated with the festival is the well-known story of Vaishnava theology, where Hiranyakashyap, the king of demons, had a son named Prahlad who was devoted to Vishnu. He tried to wean away his son from Vishnu. But when it failed, he ordered young Prahlad to sit on a pyre in his sister Holika’s lap. Holika was burned but nothing happened to Prahlad. From that day on, the burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi.
Other mythology associated with the Holi festival of colors in central parts and northern parts of India is the story of Radha’s divine love for Krishna.
It is believed that Lord Krishna was sad over his dark complexion and wondered why Radha was so fair. His mother Yashoda playfully suggested that he smear color on Radha’s face and change her complexion to any color he wanted. Fascinated by the idea, Krishna proceeded to do so and thus introduced the festival of colors.
Holi is famous all over the world for its intimate connection to divine deities and their love.
THE JAKARTA CELEBRATION
Back to Jakarta: by 7 p.m., almost 200 people, most of them Indian-Indonesians and Indian expatriates, crowded the open space. Some of them were enjoying the food. Others were running around rubbing each other’s faces with colored powder or spraying one another with colored water while upbeat dance tunes were played from a record.
The recorded dance music was administered by a disc jockey called DJ Remi.
A little later in the evening, after most guests had enjoyed their food, soft drinks and beer, when the full moon became totally visible, the event introduced male and female singers from India named Sujoy and Suswati, respectively. They performed classical Indian dance numbers accompanied by music played by SantanuBasu.
This was the most exciting part of the evening, with guests standing up from their seats and dancing along with the music. The energetic Suswati sometimes descended from the stage to be among the guests, who subsequently formed a circle and danced around her as she sang in the center. The guests seemed to lose themselves as they celebrated the arrival of spring in India beneath Jakarta’s full moon.
“I am happy because here, people come together as a community; we are having fun and sharing happiness with one another,” a high school teacher in her early 40s, ParonitaBhattacharjee, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the event.
Another Indian teacher named Rima Mitra, meanwhile, said she especially liked the colorful overtone of the festival, where different colors were spread all around.
Although Holi is a Hindu festival, anyone can join in the celebration and have fun.
- Photos courtesy of India Club/Rubiana Yasmin Attar
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