Archive for Wednesday 27th March 2002 - The festival of colours

Nearly one billion Hindus will be celebrating Holi, the festival of colours, around the world tomorrow. Heralding the coming of spring, Holi is also entwined with India’s rich mythological tradition. But whatever its origins, it is unmistakably party-time.

At the largest temple outside India, Neasden’s Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, in North London, thousands of the UK’s 400,000 Hindus will be celebrating. In India joyous revellers spray each other with coloured water and powders in rainbow-hued festivity. Street parties mean that all the normal cultural restraints of caste, sex and status are put aside in the spirit of the celebration. For those who have enjoyed this most boisterous of festivals in India it is a completely unforgettable experience.

The UK’s climate means Holi has to be more subdued but it is still colourful. Celebrations in Neasden - without the throwing of powder and spraying of water - begin at 5pm. Spokesman Tarun Patel says: "We will be celebrating with great pomp and colour. Everyone is welcome to attend at our beautiful temple."

Tonight, on the eve of Holi, bonfires will blaze to banish the last remnants of winter and also to symbolise the triumph of good over evil, with the burning of the effigy of the demoness Holika. This female fiend, who was supposed to be impervious to fire, was engaged by an ancient Hindu king to incinerate his young son, Prahlad, who publicly denounced his father’s religious tyranny.

The plot failed. Holika, who carried the boy into the fire, was engulfed in the flames and Prahlad survived. As well as honoring the boy’s saintly bravery, the Holi legend draws from other fables, including the foiling of a plot by a witch to kill the infant Krishna, one of Hinduism’s leading deities.

For more information about Holi at the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir call: +44 (0)208 965 2651

Mark Winter