Holi, the Festival of Colors, is next weekend. I'm sure there will be some sort of celebration out here at the ISKCON center in Kansas City, but it will pale in comparison to the two-day party that the Festival has become at the Spanish Fork Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. The first year I went, in 2005, there were 300 people maximum. We chanted and danced around a bonfire after watching a professional Indian dancer from UCLA perform in the upper meeting room of the Temple. I cannot express how joyful that entire experience was. Everyone was respectful and happy and genuinely having a fantastic time. Over the years, the festival has grown exponentially. In 2008 there were over 10,000 festivalgoers. This year the Temple is planning on 30,000-50,000. To prepare, they are staggering the color-throwing to begin every two hours from March 26-27 and providing shuttle buses from distant parking lots (and a good thing too, because parking at the Temple is rather limited). I wish I could be there, despite the disrespectful and douchebaggy kids that have flooded the place in the past couple years, lighting the effigy early and completely ignoring the meaningful aspects of the festival.
I really enjoyed going to the Krishna Temple. Everyone there was always fantastically nice, and Caru Das, the Temple president, is a wonderfully kind and intelligent man. The Sunday Love Feast and other festivals were always a win. Truly, this is one of the few things I miss about living in Provo.
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