ENMU hosts Holi Festival, celebrating diversity

Despite being stuck inside due to the cold weather, Eastern New Mexico University students and staff could still be heard laughing and dancing to bollywood music in the Union Building on Monday afternoon.

Gathered for the celebration of love and the introduction of spring, ENMU International Affairs hosted their first ever Holi Festival.

For attendees such as Catalina Arana Mendoza, who is studying to get her masters in communications, getting the opportunity to learn diverse cultures is something she has always been passionate about.

"Every single day I am learning in a fun way. I feel like soaking in that knowledge of other cultures is very important, especially if you do it in a fun way like this," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said she had never heard of the festival of colors before attending the event. Covered in vibrant colors of pink, blue, yellow and orange, Mendoza said she was proud to embrace "such a beautiful culture."

To Mendoza the biggest take away from the celebration was the unity of people regardless of the color of their skin or background.

"I love that they said there is no difference in color, when you do the Holi celebration. So it's very fun and very colorful, but like they mentioned there's no difference in color," Mendoza said.

Though the original plan was to have a full on celebration of dancing and throwing colorful powder at one another, ENMU Assistant Professor of Communicative Disorders Priyanka Shailat said the celebration will have to wait until the weather warms up.

A date for the outdoor event is still yet to be determined, but officials said it will most likely occur on a Monday sometime this month.

Before students got a sneak peek of the celebration by sprinkling some powder onto each other, attendees were introduced to the history of Holi by Shailat.

Shailat said the Holi festival has many different names as it is a popular and significant Hindu festival.

"Holi is a festival of color and we call it festival color because we play color. So in India we play with dry colors... And this day also marks the onset of spring," Shailat said.

The celebration stems from the legend of Radha and Krishna's eternal and divine love. Shailat said Krishna was jealous of Radha's fair complexion, and had eventually pranked his beloved by covering them in color.

Though the festival originates from India, Shailat said it is celebrated all over the world.

"It is one festival with many names," Shailat said.

Just like its many names, Shailat said the festival also has many different meanings to its community. Some of the most important meanings are the triumph of good versus evil, love and the marking of spring.

After learning some of the festival's history, attendees were invited to dance to bollywood music and share their excitement for the introduction of spring.