Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Celebrate Holi

My ammunition for the day
Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is a Hindu religious festival celebrated as a thanksgiving for the victory of good over evil. But over the years, it has become popular even among non-Hindus, as a celebration of love, frolic and colors.

In Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, there are several temples that organize the Holi celebration every year. This year was the first time that I attended one. It was at Geeta Ashram, Petaling Jaya. Entrance fee was RM20 per person per entry, inclusive of three packets of colored powder. They were also selling white T-shirts, in case you didn't want to get yours dirty. White, so that you could see the colors more clearly and the before-and-after photos would be much more interesting. I wore a light blue T-shirt that I didn't want anymore (it already had some stains on it).

The temple is easily accessible by LRT, the nearest stop being Asia Jaya. If you're attending this event, make sure that you don't bring any sharp item, umbrella or outside food/drinks with you. There would be bag checks at the entrance, right before they give you your wrist tags. My umbrella got confiscated.

The event started at 11 a.m. and continued till about 4. I stayed for only 2 hours because it was already getting too hot. There were shows, deejays and lotssss of dancing. The music was mostly Indian-themed, but since Malaysia is a multi-racial country, they had some Malay, Chinese and western songs as well.






It was refreshing to see the revelers consisting of various races, religions and nationalities. No religious authorities raided the event, as they were known to do if they knew Muslims were involved in such activities (if you're Malaysian, you'd know what I mean).

I also like the camaraderie among the attendees. If you're worried about going alone, don't be. I went alone, and it was not a problem at all. You basically just make new friends without having to go through all those introductions and small talk. Also, it doesn't matter who you are, I promise you, you'd never be able to escape from getting dirty. Just go to any stranger and smear powder on their faces and wish them a happy Holi. If you look relatively clean, you're going to be the most obvious target. This was how I looked before I left:


 



One of the colors, the pink one, was really hard to wash off. It stayed on my face for at least a couple of days, and looked like a really ugly sore.