The university community says goodbye to spring with the Holi Festival

31/05/2016

Last Thursday 26 May took place, for the second year running, the UAB Holi Festival. The Plaça Cívica, which was the stage for the festival, is not only a place where people pass by, but also the central space that connects all of the UAB. The square filled with colours and with the UAB Holi Festival we said goodbye to spring in the best of ways so we can now face finals time.

Around 300 students took part in the second edition of the festival, which is an initiative organized by UAB TALKS together with Gaudí Events, and with the support of the Community Involvement Unit. Besides “holi powder” and good company, the attendants also enjoyed DJ Like’s music and the participation of a speaker.

This Hindu festival has a lot of history behind. It owes its name to Holika, Prahlada's evil aunt. According to the legend, Holika wanted to murder her nephew because he did not worship his father, the king, as a God, and instead he worshiped Vishnu. One day, Holika tricked Prahlada into sitting on a pyre with her. Holika was wearing a cloak that made her immune to injury from fire, while Prahlada was not. Then Vishnu appeared and protected the prince with the blanket.  Prahlada survived while Holika burned. The next day, when the fire had cooled down, people applied ash to their foreheads. Year after year, when spring came, people lighted a pyre in the evening and on the next day applied the ashes to their forhead. Eventually, coloured powder was used instead of ash, and the celebration became what we nowadays know as Holi Festival.

You can take a look at all the pictures of the Holi festival on UABInfo’s Facebook.