MADRID, Iowa – The traditional Hindu festival known as Holi isn’t the most well-known spring holiday , but it’s the perfect way to kick off the season.
“Moving away from winter, the spring, and the sun abright. And I think it’s just like the good over evil,” said Dipika Patel, member of the Hindu Temple of Iowa. “So, we’re just celebrating one season to another and just about everybody being equal.”
Every year, the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Iowa in Madrid hosts Holi, the festival of color, love and spring. The event is celebrated through traditional Hindu cuisine, dancing and the throwing of colors.
“There is a lot of different cultures in India, and there is the caste system. And today’s the day. Everything. Everybody forgets everything. And then they all become one, and they celebrate together,” said Raj Yalxmy, religious chair of the Hindu Temple of Iowa. “Once you put the colors, nobody knows who that is. And it’s just another way of making sure that, you know, everybody’s felt the same.”
Stephanie Reynolds and Micah Spurlock don’t practice the Hindu faith, but think it’s important to learn and experience other cultures.
“I think it’s really important to keep an open mind and to experience other cultures. We live in a world where we all live together, right? And we need to be open and giving and just receiving of other people,” said Reynolds.
“It’s easy to think you understand something if you never witness it. And then whenever you do, then you actually understand. I think most people are way more alike than we think,” said Spurlock.
For Dipika Patel, this festival represents her finding a Hindu community in central Iowa, “I come from London, where we had a really great opportunity throughout, and here it’s really nice to know that there is this temple and we can all get together and celebrate our faith and Hindu culture.”
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