Rang Barse!! (Color-Lashed!): India's Holi Festival in Manila

- March 24, 2013, Sunday.

- The Asia Society of the Philippines has brought the Indian festival named "Holi" to Manila, and was celebrated earlier this afternoon in SM Mall of Asia, by the bay. Holi is celebrated by the participants throwing colored gulal powder, or spraying usual/colored water at each other. It is celebrated to mark the transition from winter to spring, or to celebrate harvest. Hinduism tells a story about holi, where the demon king Hiranyakashipu became angry at his son Prahlad, because he was a devotee of Vishnu, rather than Hiranyakashipu, who has gained many boons from the gods, and wanted to play god himself. Hiranyakashipu wanted to kill his son, but Prahlad always made it out alive and unharmed. The final sentence was for Prahlad to sit on his aunt Holika's lap, and both of them will be burned; Holika was fire-proof because of a boon given to her. Prahlad prayed to Vishnu, was miraculously was unharmed by the fire, and Holika was surprisingly burned by the flames. Holika turns to ashes, and Prahlad's salvation through devotion was the root of the Holi celebration. Interestingly, "Holi" gets its name from "Holika." Others claim that holi was also related to the unending love of Krishna (the eithth avatar of Vishnu,) and his lover, Radha. The exact day of Holi from 2013 will be this Wednesday, the 27th of March.

- I've received word from schoolmates in UP weeks ago about the Holi festival that was celebrated in SM Mall of Asia earlier. I was hesitant to go at first, since I knew how wild and messy Holi could be, and there's a possibility that the colored powder would take time to wear of from my clothes and my body parts. I would be leaving for the Holy Week, and I did not want to look like I rainbow vomited on me, so I took extra measures to protect myself from the flying colors and heat. Good thing my Indian friend Roshni gave me some tips, such as placing lotion or baby oil on the skin and hair to make the colors easily wash off.

- I invited Charmaine and Riezeryl to celebrate Holi with me, and they immediately agreed. (I guess this is a sign that I have semi-Indianized my friends.) I met them today at 10am, and went to MOA to register and pay the 100php entrance fee. We also met up with Charmaine's officemate Val.

I had palak panner, or spinach with cottage cheese; one of my favorites.

Indians taking over the stage, dancing their own bhangra numbers.

A Sikh.

From SingIndia band.

They were having fun with their roti canai.

They're gonna dance.

We have our own gulal powder packs!! Yay!!

- We first had lunch in the venue, of course a very Indian lunch, and walked around to watch the Indians dancing on stage, and other excited participants who started to throw colors even before the countdown. Finally, at around 1pm, colors and flower petals flew in all directions, as drums and cheers livened up the color-splashing ceremony.

Holi Hai!!

My contribution to Holi: My pack of yellow gulal powder. HAHA.

A face among the crowd.

All colored!!

With my makeshift turban and lungyi (sarong.)

- Apart from throwing colors at each other, cultural performances such as Punjabi bhangra numbers and Kathak numbers were done, as well as other modern dances by the Indian transnationals in Manila. The dance number done by the cute little Indian girls dressed up in their Rajasthani lehenga-cholis (a skirt-blouse combination) was one of the crowd favorites.

Long time no see!!

The "Mere Dholna" Krishna-Radha Kathak dance.

Cute Krishna!!

- Charmaine, Riezeryl, and Val went inside the mall to cool themselves, as the sun was being unbearably hot. I opted to stay to observe more. Interestingly, I saw other people I knew who also joined in the festivities, such as my Indian friend Hitesh, and my Atenean friend Ceej.

Desi Boys,

and Desi Girls.

ITTTT'S BHANGRA TIME!!!!

I am officially one of them -____-

Nice person who smiled for my camera.

Another nice person.

Second bhangra.

- The main event ended with a second bhangra number. Afterwards, games and other minor events took place. I left after the main program, since that was what I really wanted to see and experience; after all, this is my first Holi. I changed into my street clothes once more, and looked for Charmaine and company in the food court. We ate for a while, and left for home. Despite the extreme heat, we were glad that it did not rain like the other days, and that the colors removed easily from our skin (and hopefully our clothes.) As for me, I never thought I'd celebrate Holi here in the Philippines, and so it's an item off my all-things-Indian-to-experience bucket list. Right now, I am contemplating on how to remove this sunburn that makes me look like tocino (sweet-cured meat) or bacon, but more than that, I am looking forward to celebrating Diwali (Indian festival of lights,) like I always do, this November 3.