{"id":80770,"date":"2016-03-28T19:10:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-28T19:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=4355&preview_id=4355"},"modified":"2016-03-28T19:10:45","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T19:10:45","slug":"4th-holi-celebration-in-manila","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=80770","title":{"rendered":"4th Holi Celebration in Manila – The Standard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photos by Star Sabroso<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holi Festival, one of the happiest and most colorful festivals of Hindus, was recently celebrated at SM by the Bay Central Park with more than 2,500 people gathering for the auspicious event.<\/p>\n

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Ushering in the arrival of spring, the festival widely celebrated in India, Nepal and other Hindu countries, saw its fourth year of celebration in the Philippines organized by Asia Society and SM by the Bay in partnership with the Embassy of India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, Indian Ladies Club and SingIndia Music of the Soul.<\/p>\n

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Most of the population who joined the festivity are of Indian descent but there were a lot of Filipinos and other nationalities who embraced the celebration and took part in throwing colorful gulal\u00a0powder at each other, singing and dancing with the crowd. More than just a Hindu celebration, the event turned into one multi-colored race united by love and friendship. \u201cToday, we are not Filipino, Indian, American nor any other nationality,\u201d Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Lalduhthlana Ralte addressed the crowd. \u201cWe are all global citizens,\u201d he added, expressing hope that more people would participate in the years to come.<\/p>\n

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Predominant during the event was pink gulal, and these were splattered on the participants\u2019 faces and bodies as they entered the grounds. As soon as the first color countdown commenced, everyone was barely recognizable from the explosion of colors on their bodies, and the audience bled with bursts of tangerine, blue, and pink until the sunset.<\/p>\n

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Everyone was barely recognizable from the explosion of colors. The audience bled with bursts of tangerine, blue, and pink until the sunset<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The crowd danced and jumped through traditional folk music \u2013 Bhangra and Bollywood music mixed by DJ CJ Wasu. The amped-up members of the crowd threw some of their peers up in the air and some braved the stage to learn some signature dance moves with Samba School Imperatriz Filipinense\u2019s rhythmic drum beats. Asia Society Philippines executive director Suyin Liu Lee, who opened the program, highlighted the importance of interaction and cultural exchange in promoting cooperation and understanding between communities.<\/p>\n

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The Holi Festival or Festival of Colors is a fun-filled celebration that is marked by dancing, singing, and the throwing of colored powder (gulal) up in the air to symbolize unity, freedom and the joy of living. \u00a0The Holi Festival organized by Asia Society and SM by the Bay gathered thousands of Indians, Filipinos and other nationalities, all united in love and friendship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Around the event complex, Indian food was offered with servings of chicken tandoori, pani puri, idli sambal and samosas by restaurants that include Kashmir, Bollywood, Royal Indian Curry House, Green Dot, and Saffron Plates. Different nationalities lined up to get traditional Mehndi (henna) tattoos while kids and kids-at-heart indulged their creative energies in creating their own rangoli artwork, a kind of folk art, wherein interesting patterns are filled with colored sand, colored rice, and flower petals, often crafted to celebrate auspicious occasions in India. After the sunset, Holika Dahan or the lighting of bonfire was performed by a Hindu priest while he chanted prayers and encouraged the crowd to throw away their sufferings and sorrows.<\/p>\n

For more information about Asia Society or if you are interested to become a member contact +632-550-2612 or email<\/p>\n

info@asiasociety.org. Visit them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @AsiaSocietyPH.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

COMMENT DISCLAIMER:<\/strong> Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by The Standard. Comments are views by thestandard.ph readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of thestandard.ph. While reserving this publication\u2019s right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with The Standard editorial standards, The Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.<\/p>\n

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Source: 4th Holi Celebration in Manila \u2013 The Standard<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photos by Star Sabroso The Holi Festival, one of the happiest and most colorful festivals of Hindus, was recently celebrated at SM by the Bay Central Park with more than 2,500 people gathering for the auspicious event. Ushering in the arrival of spring, the festival widely celebrated in India, Nepal and other Hindu countries, saw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1159],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}