Community Corner

Mansfield Celebrating Hindu Festival to Raise Funds for a Cure

Local event will celebrate the ancient festival of Holi and help raise funds for local Relay for Life team.

Medha Biswas is hosting at the Mansfield High School Sunday, June 5, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event  is a celebration of the Hindu festival known as Holi. The celebration, practiced primarily in India, Shri Lanka and Nepal, lasts for sixteen days in its native regions. Holi is the primary celebration day, and this year was on March 20. The main ritual of the festival is throwing colored power and water at each other.

Biswas is hosting a smaller festival to help raise money for her Relay for Life team, Dumbledore's Army. The event only requires a $5 donation and white cloths you won't mind getting doused in color.

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Biswas said she originally got the idea last month.

"I was in my basement with my Relay for Life team trying to think of ways to raise money for the cause and we thought of doing a yard sale and bake sale combo," she said. "I don't know why but I thought, 'Let's bring Holi to Mansfield!' I always thought that Holi was a commonly known event, but none of my teammates knew about it, so instead of just being a fundraiser, Holi became a way to spread culture and to teach people about how Indians have fun."

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Biswas was born in the U.S., and was the first of her family to do so. She has gone to India several times to visit her extended family. Biswas said that she has always known about the festival, but never visited during the time of the celebration and has never been able to experience it for herself.

"I remember how fondly my grandparents, aunts, and cousins always talk about Holi and they are always trying to convince me to visit during Holi," she said. "Growing up, my parents always recall their childhood memories during Holi when they didn't have to go to school and could throw color in the streets with all of their friends; so I've always known about the holiday, but haven't had any experience with it."

The festival itself is a celebration of life and the coming of spring. It commemorates Prahlada's trial, a figure from the Puranic Texts of Hinduism who is generally known for his exclusive devotion to Vishnu, who is the supreme preserver of the world in the Hindu religion. Prahlada was being carried by the deomoness Holika into fire, but because of his unshakable devotion to Vishnu, he escaped without injuries. Because of this, a great number of bonfires are also lit during the festival.


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