Festival of Colors

March 10, 2009

Festival of Colors

It is not everyday that there is a festival in Mbale, and it is definitely not everyday that I get to attend a festival at the Hindu Temple. I know most of you are thinking, “What was she doing there?” Glenn and I have made some Indian friends at the gym and yesterday one of them invited us to come to the Festival of Colors. So after asking about the dress code and if I was allowed to bring my camera, we made plans (yesterday) to meet up today.

But, if you know me at all, you know that I can’t just go and do things without asking questions and know what exactly I will be doing. So, of course I wanted to know what exactly is this Festival celebrating. In all honesty, I didn’t want to show up and have some awkward situation where they were worshiping one of their gods. So, thanks to Wikipedia, I found out that the Festival of Colors is also known as Dol Purnima and is mainly a day of joy and friendship. “It is believed that the combination of different colors played at this festival take all the sorrow away and make life even more colorful.” There were also pictures of large groups of people covered, head to toe, in paints. Literally as if someone ran through the crowd and showed them with all different colors. Honestly, I felt a little nervous about this. Who really wants paint ALL over them? Not me.

So, Glenn and I arrived at the Hindu temple, which is conveniently near home, around 8:00 and met with our friend who had invited us. It was a bit awkward as we were walking, now that I was the only Mzungu and Glenn was one of 3 black Ugandans I saw. But really most of my days have at least a moment that I have to embrace an awkward situation and just get over it. So I did. They were very friendly and quickly offered to show us around to the different temples of their gods. Apparently, each Hindu people group (usually based on region of origin) has their own gods that they pray to. So, we saw many different statues and photos of different gods, but our host only prayed to two of the gods we visited.

So, the first temple we visited was one of our host’s gods and as we entered he rung a bell. He said it was to let the god know that he has come to visit. Oh, you must remove your shoes before you enter the temple, because it is disrespectful to enter a holy place with the shoes that you use to walk everywhere. There were four small temples on the outside and then a large temple that we entered last. We saw many different statues, with different names and different things offered to them… money, incense, popcorn, apples. Some of the god statues were of human resemblance and some were animals.

(Inside the main temple. There are shrines to gods on the wall and a main room with 4 gods at the back. The place smelled like insence.)

In all honesty, it was very interesting but very sad to me. How lost these people are. It is as if they just created gods to meet every need and pray to whichever one they fancy at the time. There is no supreme God that is all powerful and all loving. So, it really seemed like there was no Truth, seeing as they have thousands of gods and many are called Hindus that are worshiping completely different gods under the same religious title.

But on with the Festival. As we started getting near the food I could see the colors that had been smeared on people’s faces, children and adults alike. Some were totally covered and some had the streaks of fingers across their face. Our host took us into the kitchen to serve food, but as I reached the door, I quickly became aware that there were ONLY men in there, serving themselves food. Awkward, yet again. So, I slowly stepped back out of the kitchen and our host realized that I couldn’t be in there with them. So I waited outside for them to bring me food. The Indian food was a nice change from matoke and beef soup (that I normally eat every night). It was served on a divided silver tray- flat bread, sweet rice, potatoes and vegi mix, and a small saucer with “soup”. One thing I noticed is that Indian food has an interesting sweet taste with a kick of serious spice. And there was nothing to drink as you were eating. But I enjoyed the meal. Still, the main substance was starches. I was told that they never eat beef because one of their gods is a cow (which they “pet” or touch as they enter the temple. During dinner, I also noticed that not only do the women serve themselves at different times but they also eat in completely separate places. I stayed with Glenn and my host, so I hope no one was offended.

(Everything was served in different sections of the tray and we ate standing up while the women all gathered and ate in a different place.)

Of course you can’t go to the Festival of Colors without being colored. So, one of my other Indian friends saw me and smeared my face with purple color. They did Glenn too, but obviously the purple paint “aka food coloring” showed up more on my face. I was just praying I would not be stained for the next 2 days!

(Glenn being "colored" with food coloring)

(Me, Glenn, and our new little friend (the son of one of our Indian friends) after being "colored". Though you can't really see it on Glenn. Happy Holi!)

The last thing for me to report is that it is tradition at the Festival to have a large bonfire. You must walk 5 laps around the bonfire to appease the god. Stories and traditions go that you dig a small whole before you build the fire and place in their some sort of bean and or coconuts. Then the beans are covered and the fire begins, burning all night- while boiling what is below. In the morning, when only ashes remain, the beans are removed and divided among the people for good luck.

The Festival of Colors seemed more like an excuse to get together with the rest of the Hindu population and eat food. But as I think about it, isn’t that what all holidays are for (or have become) anyways? I was glad to go and experience something new.