Thousands celebrate Holi with a splash of color


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SPANISH FORK - Saturday marked the beginning of the two-day "Holi Festival" or "Festival of Colors" and tens of thousands of people were expected to celebrate at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork.

It's called the "Holi Festival" or "Festival of Colors." It's a traditional Indian holiday marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Every two hours at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork Saturday, revelers participated in "color throwings" -- clouds of brightly colored chalk flying through the air to mark a tradition in India dating back thousands of years.

"Krisna himself -- which is a name for God, when he was on the planet -- he started this festival 5,000 years ago to celebrate the coming of spring," said Charu Das, a priest at the Spanish Fork Krishna Temple. "In those days, they take flower petals and grind it up into fine powder and then throw it on each other."

The Holi Festival is celebrated with lots of color and lots of music. It's also the Krishna temple's biggest event of the year.

"We consider it that we are following the footsteps of God. Most of the people that come to the festival aren't aware of that, and of course we try to educate them. They just come because it's fun, but it's a special meaning for us, because we consider the Lord did the same thing for us thousands of years ago," Das said.

More than 30,000 people of all faiths attended the festival over the weekend. Usually it's been just a one-day event, but because of its growing popularity the Holi Festival will continued through Sunday as well.

It's part celebration, part mantra-rock -- that is, traditional chanting with contemporary instruments. It's also an educational opportunity for the Krishna Temple.

Email: kmccord@ksl.com

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