March 06 - Holi Phagua

March 22, 2006

I recently went to Nieuw Nickerie (on the west side of the country, across the river from Guyana) for Holi Phagua. Rather than try to explain it all myself, I have looked some up and want to share it with you. It was a fun holiday, as you will see by the pictures. :)

This information I found on The Hague Online. It was posted for The Netherlands, but as you see, it says most of the people are from Suriname, and the others are here. What a fantastic holiday! Hope you enjoy!

Next week, on March 15 Den Haag will turn red and green as the city's Hindu community gathers to celebrate Holi Phagua. Holi Phagua is the Hindu New Year's festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil making it a lively, colourful event.

Holi Phagua is celebrated on the last day of the last month of the Hindu calendar thus marking the beginning of a new year. The festival's activities relate to various legends such as that of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap. Once upon a time, the legend goes, there lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap, who considered himself a god and insisted on being worshiped as one. To his great anger, his son, Prahlad began to worship Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakshyap thus decided to get rid of his son. He asked his sister, Holika, to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap, a feat she was willing to undertake because she was immune to fire. However, the Gods intervened and Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion Lord Vishnu, while Holika perished in the flames. Today, on the eve of the Holi, a plant called the Holika, or an effigy of the legendary Holika, is burned in a large bonfire. The fire is a cleansing ritual which symbolises the victory of good over evil, of renewal and of hope, and of good things to come in the New Year.

But why throw coloured powders? Holi also celebrates the legend of Radha and Krishna, a story which recounts Krishna's delight in a prank in which he coloured Radha, one of the gopi (cow-herding women) that Krishna grew up with. The red and green colours used during the festival signify friendship, hope and love.

We've all seen images of the mayhem in the streets of northern India with people throwing buckets of coloured water and powder at each other. The festivities are celebrated differently in various parts of the world. Here in the Netherlands, the 160,000 strong Hindu community, primarily from Surinam, celebrate in style. At 13:30 on Wednesday afternoon, a parade will depart from the Wijkpark Transvaal, make its way to the Hobbema Plein, to return to the Wijkpark by around 14:30. There, performances of music, dance and song will enliven the neighborhood until 18:00. Bring children, friends and family to what promises to be a boisterous celebration.

-Dianne Lemieux