East Indian community welcomes spring with food, music, colors

Rainier Vista Park in Lacey exploded into vibrant spring colors on Sunday, courtesy of the South Sound East Indian community, which celebrated spring’s arrival with Holi Fest, or the festival of colors.

About 80 gathered for the celebration, said Krishna Kumar, an organizer of the event who also is involved with the Olympia chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA. The nonprofit aims to keep Indian culture alive in the U.S. by organizing Holi Fest and other cultural activities, but it’s also a place where people can learn yoga, Hindi and Sanskrit, Kumar said.

The international organization also is involved with disaster relief.

Sunday’s celebration began with food, such as samosas, a warm pastry filled with potatoes and vegetables that are dunked in a sweet and spice red sauce. Another dish was jilebi, a fried dough covered in sugar syrup.

After the food, and pumped up by an uplifting series of Indian songs, the all-ages crowd took to the park’s grassy fields to run around and mark each other with a variety of colored powders. For the children, it was bit like the game of tag, chasing each other with the intent of streaking some color across their clothes. For the adults, the colors were applied more gently; a streak across the cheek or a dab on the forehead, followed by an embrace. “Happy, Holi,” they said.

Abhi Kuzhikat of Tumwater, who has lived in the U.S. for the past 14 years, participated in the local Holi Fest for the first time, he said. He was joined Sunday by his wife and son.

The festival of colors operates on a much larger scale in India, said Kuzhikat, who originally is from from Mumbai. There, the celebration includes bonfires and participants come away with so many colors spread across their bodies that they are almost unrecognizable, he said.

He also said there’s a large annual gathering in Utah that attracts about 10,000 people.

For more information about the local chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, visit the website and click on locations.

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "East Indian community welcomes spring with food, music, colors."