Holi Mahotsav 2010 - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia
Holi Mahotsav 2010 - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia
Holi Mahotsav 2010 - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia
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<strong>Holi</strong> <strong>Mahotsav</strong> <strong>2010</strong>—A View -Saurabh<br />
‘<strong>Holi</strong>’ comes from the word ‘Hola’, meaning to offer<br />
oblation or prayer to the almighty as thanksgiving for<br />
good harvest. <strong>Holi</strong> is celebrated every year to remind<br />
people that those who love God shall be saved and<br />
they who torture the devotee of God shall be reduced<br />
to ashes a la the mythical character <strong>Holi</strong>ka.<br />
<strong>Holi</strong> is also associated with the historical story of<br />
<strong>Holi</strong>ka, the sister of demon-king Hiranyakashipu. The<br />
demon-king punished his son, Prahlad in a variety of<br />
ways to denounce Lord Narayana. He failed in all his<br />
attempts. Finally, he asked his sister <strong>Holi</strong>ka to take<br />
Prahlad in her lap and enter a blazing fire. <strong>Holi</strong>ka had<br />
a boon to remain unburned even inside fire. <strong>Holi</strong>ka<br />
did her brother’s bidding. However, <strong>Holi</strong>ka’s boon<br />
ended by this act of supreme sin against the Lord’s<br />
devotee and was burnt to ashes. But Prahlad came out<br />
unharmed.<br />
<strong>Holi</strong> <strong>Mahotsav</strong>, Indian Festival of colours, friendship<br />
and harmony, was celebrated for 3 days starting on<br />
12 March at Palm Grove & Cockle Bay area. The<br />
event was presented by <strong>Bharatiya</strong> <strong>Vidya</strong> <strong>Bhavan</strong><br />
<strong>Australia</strong> with the support of Lebara Mobiles and<br />
Incredible India. Although <strong>Bhavan</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> had been<br />
celebrating this festival for years but it was my first<br />
time to celebrate <strong>Holi</strong> festival on a foreign land and<br />
that made me more excited.<br />
It was 12th March when we, group of 4 friends,<br />
fortunately met Gambhir Watts, President, <strong>Bharatiya</strong><br />
<strong>Vidya</strong> <strong>Bhavan</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> near Cockle Bay area and we<br />
came to know about the huge event that was going<br />
on there. Meeting Mr Watts was so encouraging and<br />
marvellous that we could not control ourselves to offer<br />
our voluntary support to him. Next day ie on 13th<br />
March, we reached the venue at 10:30 in the morning<br />
and on looking around, we saw a beautiful stage on<br />
Aquashell and so many people gathering near the stage<br />
and enjoying the performances. Before beginning the<br />
work for the day, I walked to the <strong>Bhavan</strong>’s hut where<br />
the historical stories and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi<br />
were on display, seeing which could give goosebumps<br />
to any Indian and same applied to me. Foodstalls with<br />
Indian delicacies were mouthwatering and watching<br />
people from different nationalities enjoying samosa,<br />
naan and curry was wonderful.<br />
During the festival, I was mostly inside the ‘performers<br />
check in’ room and hence I knew what was about to<br />
be the coming performance. The day began with Yoga<br />
lessons, laughter sessions, Belly dancing and singing.<br />
I could not see what was going on stage but with the<br />
gradual increase in the sound of claps, I could say that<br />
whatever was going on was being liked by all and<br />
gradually more and more people were joining in<br />
the celebration. By noon there was an exponential<br />
increase in the number of people gathering there<br />
and then came the beautifully decorated and exotic<br />
‘Rath Yatra’ (Chariot) presented by ISKCON, Sydney.<br />
Entire atmosphere was filled with chanting of ‘Hare<br />
Krishna’. All the devotees were nicely dressed in<br />
traditional Indian clothes and were very enthusiastic<br />
about the event, which was easily seen in the way they<br />
were chanting and dancing. Many people from all age<br />
groups followed the Chariot and actively participated<br />
in the event.<br />
Towards the end of the day, weapon display and<br />
Bhangra performance by Sikh community in Sydney<br />
became the limelight and grabbed the attention of the<br />
audience and won loads of applauds from them. The<br />
entire celebration was not only celebrated by Indians<br />
but was also equally enjoyed by people of other<br />
nationalities. During the event, I got the privilege<br />
to talk to many people from different countries like<br />
Hungary, Indonesia, China, Korea and of course<br />
<strong>Australia</strong>. Every one was utterly curious and excited<br />
to know more about <strong>Holi</strong> festival and to see the ways<br />
it is celebrated with colours.<br />
Next day, on 14 March, the day started with the<br />
preparation of <strong>Holi</strong> playing area. During the process,<br />
I could feel so much excitement among the people that<br />
they could not resist themselves from asking us about<br />
the timing of the colour throwing sessions and upon<br />
knowing that they looked very enthusiastic about it.<br />
12:15 pm was the time when the first colour throwing<br />
session had to begin and people started gathering around