March 8th starts the 2023 celebration of the Hindu festival, Holi, a holiday which celebrates the coming of spring and more.

Holi is the Hindu festival of colors and symbolizes the triumph of good over evil as well as the welcoming of spring. Because Holi is such a multilayered holiday, there are many different parts to celebrating the rituals. 

The night before is typically celebrated as Holika Dahan, where people stand around a bonfire and throw chickpeas, roasted grains, popcorn and coconut into the flames. These objects symbolize the ‘evil’ in our life, and throwing it into the fire welcomes a happier spring without those evils dragging you down. 

Another more well-known celebration of Holi is throwing colors, or gulal, onto each other. This is welcoming the explosion of colors that come alongside spring. Each color for gulal has a different meaning. Red symbolizes love and passion while green represents cheer and new beginnings. Yellow represents happiness and healing and blue is commonly associated with Krishna, a Hindu god who is also very closely related to this holiday.

What is an Indian holiday without some amazing Indian food? Some traditional food prepared on Holika Dahan or Holi are puri, which is a light deep-fried bread served with aloo puri, a potato masala. Desserts for Holi are often gujiya, malpua rabdi and gulab jamun. 

This holiday is a fun and auspicious time for many people all around the world. Its traditions and stories have been passed down from generation to generation and from country to country.