This weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the Holi festival in Hamburg with some friends.
And even more luckily we managed to get my camera inside, which was apparently not really allowed...
So what exactly is Holi Festival?
In Vaishnavism (a very specific form of Hinduism) there is an old story about Hiranyakashipu who was basically a demon god, who Brahama (Hindu God of Creation) had granted him a gift, that he could not be killed ""during day or night; inside the home or outside, not on earth or in the sky; neither by a man nor an animal; neither by astra nor by shastra"
As a result he got rather cocky and demanded that humans stop worshiping all other other gods and instead worship only him. And as sons are fond of doing, his own son Prahlada openly disobeyed him and worshiped Vishnu.
And so the demon king poisoned him... naturally. But the poison turned to sweet nectar in his sons mouth.
Then he had a herd of elephants trample him (not the greatest of fathers).... and again Prahlada survived.
Next he was locked in a room with venomous snakes... and again he lived.
So finally being the crappiest father ever, he ordered his son to sit in the lap of Holika (the demon kings sister, and the boys aunt) and they would both be burned in a pyre, but of course Holika had also been blessed by the Brahma to be immune to fire....of course..... Hiranyakashipu could have been a Bond villain his plans were so elaborate.
And so as the flames rose around them, Prahlada prayed to Vishnu, and was saved... meanwhile Holika was burned to death, apparently her powers faded when she chose to use them for evil.
You can read more about these stories in the Wiki links below... so what does all of that have to do with a drunken festival in Germany?
Ok so each year in India, they celebrate Holi, as the time of renewal and to celebrate Prahladas devotion to Vishnu. They do this with huge fires, the throwing of the coloured powders, and general celebration.
Importantly, during the festival time many normal social expectations are relaxed for example: ages, genders, social castes, status.
This allows all of the citizens to participate and celebrate together, this is a truly beautiful thing.
So back to Germany.... why does it matter here?
Well mostly it is a great excuse to get out in the summer sun, throw a lot of colourful stuff at attractive people, and to drink quite heavily. Unfortunately I don't believe that the majority of people who attended have any idea what it was all about. Or that they would have cared if I had told them.
The process is simple, every hour, the participants rip open some small bags of colour and throw the powder into the air, or at their friends. The people above wearing facemasks and bandanas are actually really sensible. I was sick at the time with a serious cough... and it became an awful lot worse because I breathed so much colour.
The festival was truly beautiful though, I just wish I had been in slightly better health before going.
My next post will likely be Rock'n'Heim festival!
References:
Holi (English) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
Holi (Deutsch) - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
Hiranyakashipu (English) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyakashipu
Hiranyakashipu (Deutsch) - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyakashipu
Prahlada - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahlada
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial license.