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Holi, the festival of joy and colors, was once again this year celebrated with zeal at Atlanta Vedic Temple by devotees and their friends. This festival reminds us every year that the truth wins and the untruth always fails in the final Agni (fire) test. It also tells us to forgive and forget differences and to accept and enjoy the virtues of each other.
On the first day, the 150+ crowd enjoyed performing Holika-Dahan (burning) with all the rituals, in which they enacted the legendary downfall of Holika, the evil one, and the survival of the child, her nephew Prahalad, the embodiment of truth, soul and prakriti (nature). After this scene, the crowd moved indoors to enjoy the happy Holi’s cultural dance, music & drama. The young artists of Arya Vir Dal as usual shone in entertaining the audience. The night ended with a party and sumptuous food.
The next day, after performing the morning Deva-Yajna, the crowd jumped into the fun of colors, where each color represents a virtue. Forgetting their age, beliefs and backgrounds, everyone soaked the others with colors (dry and wet), hugged and wished each other a Happy Holi. Then they picnicked in the beautiful spring season sunlight, with delicious food including thandai (a drink) and sweets—all courtesy of the temple’s devoted and tireless volunteers.
Tired, they left with prayers in their hearts, wishing “May this humanity of love, respect, care and friendship, visible today, live in us every day of the year.”
For more glimpses of the Holi celebrations, connect to “Vedic Temple Atlanta” on Facebook.
Lively celebration of Holi at Atlanta Vedic Temple
May 2011
Holi, the festival of joy and colors, was once again this year celebrated with zeal at Atlanta Vedic Temple by devotees and their friends. This festival reminds us every year that the truth wins and the untruth always fails in the final Agni (fire) test. It also tells us to forgive and forget differences and to accept and enjoy the virtues of each other.On the first day, the 150+ crowd enjoyed performing Holika-Dahan (burning) with all the rituals, in which they enacted the legendary downfall of Holika, the evil one, and the survival of the child, her nephew Prahalad, the embodiment of truth, soul and prakriti (nature). After this scene, the crowd moved indoors to enjoy the happy Holi’s cultural dance, music & drama. The young artists of Arya Vir Dal as usual shone in entertaining the audience. The night ended with a party and sumptuous food.
The next day, after performing the morning Deva-Yajna, the crowd jumped into the fun of colors, where each color represents a virtue. Forgetting their age, beliefs and backgrounds, everyone soaked the others with colors (dry and wet), hugged and wished each other a Happy Holi. Then they picnicked in the beautiful spring season sunlight, with delicious food including thandai (a drink) and sweets—all courtesy of the temple’s devoted and tireless volunteers.
Tired, they left with prayers in their hearts, wishing “May this humanity of love, respect, care and friendship, visible today, live in us every day of the year.”
For more glimpses of the Holi celebrations, connect to “Vedic Temple Atlanta” on Facebook.
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