Minnesota Hindu Milan Mandir celebrates spring Holi festival in Farmington
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by
mugdha
Outside a former church in Farmington, hundreds of people danced, their faces smeared with colorful powder.
The church is now Hindu Milan Mandir, and this month it hosted a spring Holi celebration. Revelers playfully smudged the powder called “gulal” on each other’s faces — yellow, pink, orange, blue — and tossed it in the air. They ate biryani and kheer, among other dishes. A DJ spun dance music.
According to temple president Omkar “Bobby” Ghamandi, the rubbing of colors symbolizes a forgetting of differences and celebration of universal brotherhood, as everyone looks similar coated with powder.
It is also a festival meant to celebrate love and rejoice in spring.
“It’s a very jolly time,” said Satya Balroop, general secretary of Hindu Milan Mandir, Farmington’s new temple. “Everyone’s in a mode of hibernation, and a spark of spring comes. Spring brings life and color and beauty.”
This was the temple’s third year hosting a Holi celebration in Farmington, but its first since officially opening its doors in July. And it was the largest turnout by far, drawing 400 to 500 people, members said.
