Flocks of students stepped through the arches next to Marsh Chapel Saturday afternoon sporting white T-shirts and pink wristbands to participate in the annual Holi celebration at Boston University Beach.
Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu celebration of spring, unity and new beginnings. On the second day of Holi, called Rangwali Holi, millions of people across the world come together to throw colored powders at each other, spray water and celebrate with music.
BU sophomore Dia Jain said she has been to Holi celebrations before, but now participates in festivities only at BU.
“It’s a great way to get everyone together and celebrate the Indian community,” Jain said.
BU junior Krishna Ammu said he was “very overwhelmed” to celebrate Holi for the first time but said he was “thoroughly” enjoying the festivities. The “perfect” weather made for a good day to celebrate, he said.
BU Hindu Association representatives handed out cups of colored powder on the way in. People threw powder on their friends or others at the celebration while they yelled “Happy Holi!”
A DJ played a mixture of traditional Indian music, American pop songs and electronic dance music.
Meghna Sriram, a senior at BU, said she expected to throw powder on as many people as she could throughout the celebration.
“At the end of the day, it will be at least a hundred,” she said.
Students from other Boston universities joined the celebration as well.
Adi Mishra, a graduate student at Northeastern University, grew up in Mumbai, India, and said he has celebrated Holi since he was a kid.
“This brings me a lot of childhood memories,” Mishra said. “It’s good playing around with all the colors, and it’s a beautiful day.”
Debmalya Sarkar, another graduate student at Northeastern, grew up in Kolkata, a city in the West Bengal state of India. He said Holi celebrations in his city often last around 10 continuous hours.
Sarkar said he loves how the Holi celebration brings strangers together to celebrate.
“We get to know new people,” Sarkar said. “We share our thoughts with them. They share their thoughts with us … It’s a really special thing for us.”
Rounak Jilla, a fifth-year pharmacy student at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said he loves the atmosphere at Holi celebrations.
“It’s a very community-building type of experience,” Jilla said.
Jilla said the powder throwing can spark competition, but the crowd welcomes it.
“There’s no hard feelings,” Jilla said. “Sometimes, you’re going to get it in your face, your eyes, your mouth, but whatever. It’s just a little bit of powder.”
Manvith Chatrathi, a student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said he has been to multiple Holi celebrations at colleges around Boston, but BU’s celebration is his favorite.
“In India, the streets are filled with color,” Chatrathi said. “At least we’re getting a feeling like we are in our home country.”
