Grand Holi celebrations at Grayslake Hindu temple

GEETHA PATIL
CHICAGO: A large number of Indian community members from Chicagoland celebrated the festival of Holi which marks the beginning of spring, with an explosion of colors, chanting of devotional songs and prayers at the Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, March 23.
The celebrations started with the offering of Holi colored attires and Holi colors to Lord Krishna, Ma Radha and all other temple deities. Sankalpam, Archana, and Maha Mangal Arati were performed by Pt Anil Joshi. He also offered colors to all the devotees with his arms raised in prayer as they sang religious hymns with the chorus of ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.”

In his brief discourse, Pt. Joshi explained the importance of Holi festival to all the devotees.He said that Holi was celebrated in Satya Yuga after Lord Vishnu protected his stanch devotee Bhakta Prahlada from fire. Next day, the devotees of Lord Vishnu celebrated Holi with great gusto to signify the victory of good over evil.In Treta Yuga, Lord Rama also played Holi with all the citizens of his kingdom. In Dvapara Yuga, Lord Krishna played Holi as the color of love with Ma Radha.

Even Lord Shiva and Ma Parvati came to see how Lord Krishna was playing Holi which became very popular with His ‘Rasa Avatar.’ This avatar of Lord Vishnu demonstrates the love story between Krishna and Radha. Playing Holi helps people to loosen the social restrictions among different castes, ethnicities, classes, and borders of different provinces and allows them to mingle freely and drench in one color that is the color of love. Pt. Joshi blessed all the devotees for their bright future filled with happiness and healthy life.

A Holi special lunch comprising flavors from Utta Pradesh with dal kachori, aloo subji and a variety of sweets was served by Kamal Gupta and team to all the devotees. Madup Dhaon and team presented a cultural program ‘Holi Dhamaka’, comprising more than 25 children.
This was followed by ‘Holika Dahan’ puja outside the temple by Pt. Ganesh and Yogesh Pandey with Vedic rituals along with hundreds of devotees. Then they set a bonfire alight representing the triumph of good over evil. This tradition has its roots in a Hindu mythological story about Holika, a mythical demon who was burned to death.

Then, the devotes started covering friends, family members, and strangers in rainbow-hued powders to commemorate the beginning of spring. Riotous, vibrant colors like magenta, blue, green, yellow, and orange enveloped the entire temple environment.
One American college student told this reporter: “I like to celebrate Holi, the festival of colors with my Indian friends since it mesmerizes the people in America. I have never seen before such a collective feeling of joy and togetherness spreading a colorful cloud of love among us.”