Nearly 600 pounds of colored powder sat neatly arranged in Ziploc bags Thursday afternoon at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.
Thirty minutes later, as the powder settled, the grass was no longer just green, and students left with multicolored clothing and a better understanding of a long-celebrated part of Indian culture.
About 1,500 students attended UCLA’s sixth annual Holi festival. The Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Office of the President and General Representative 1 office, the Indian Student Union, Indus and the UCLA Global Connections Council organized the event.
Holi, an Indian festival celebrating the triumph of the good over evil and the arrival of spring, has gained following throughout South Asia and other parts of the world, said Malavika Chugh, a third-year economics and global studies student and director of special projects in the General Representative 1 office.
Holi is celebrated worldwide in March, but organizers decided to hold UCLA’s celebration during spring quarter to accommodate winter quarter finals. The event was also pushed back another week so organizers could have time to fund the event and buy colored powder, Chugh said. Organizers spent about $2,200 on powder, said Aditi Agrawal, the event’s director.
Organizers also made a video prior to the event in which they asked students what they knew about Holi. Chugh said this year organizers focused more than previous years on educating students about the meaning of Holi.
“Every year, there is more diversity,” Chugh said. “People need to know why it’s significant.”
At the start of the festival, students gathered near lower lawn bleachers of the recreation center. As soon as the students were seated, they were greeted by Agrawal, who spoke about Holi’s origins, which involve a devil king’s failed attempt to gain his son’s allegiance from the god Vishnu.
After Agrawal’s speech, organizers gave small bags of colored powder to the students and performed an 8-clap before starting.
A gray cloud formed over the lawn as students threw the powder at their friends and other students in attendance. Indian music played for nearly half an hour as students depleted the supply of powder.
Sabareesh Chinta, an electrical engineering graduate student, said the Holi festivals he’s been to in India were more intimate, but he was excited to hear UCLA hosted such an event.
“In India, it (is) more of a family event,” he said. “Here, it was really cool being with a lot of students.”
Agrawal said her goal for this year’s event was to cater to students of all backgrounds and to inform them of Holi’s significance.
After the event, students said they had learned the cultural importance behind their new, multicolored clothing.
“I wanted to partake in the festival to learn about a new culture,” said Athena Athanassis, a first-year bioengineering student. “Plus, who doesn’t want to throw colors at each other?”