The Big Picture: Holi

March 13, 2009 4:58 PM

Holi - The Festival of Colors on the Big Picture. More about Holi. What else can you do on Holi? [pre vious ly]
posted by not_on_display (19 comments total)

"Smearing colors on friends and dear ones is the basic idea of Holi, no one is spared. Both the young and the old enjoy throwing water balloons, dry colors, and washable dyes on anyone in sight on the day of the holi. We go around in streets, with a tin drums, armed with tonnes of colors and big syringes filled with colored water. And at the end of the day no one will even remotely resemble themselves." - from the ly link. Fun festival.

Sounds like a typical Friday night in Brooklyn.
posted by netbros at 5:15 PM on March 13, 2009

I hope they don't get psychedelic lung disease.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:18 PM on March 13, 2009

The paints are often dangerous.
posted by grobstein at 5:35 PM on March 13, 2009

The paints are often dangerous.

Yeah, Indian holidays tend to be that way. Diwali = drunk Indians + cattle + homemade firecrackers.
posted by gman at 5:39 PM on March 13, 2009

I have yet to experience paintball. This sounds like an excellent introduction.

happy 100th post!
posted by The Whelk at 5:54 PM on March 13, 2009

> The Whelk: "I have yet to experience paintball. This sounds like an excellent introduction.

happy 100th post!

I think paintball must have been driving my subconscious today. [My son can't find a tiny piece in his gun [if it existed to begin with], so it's been a hot topic in the house today.

And I totally forgot this was post #100. Doubly subconsciously celebratory FPP, then! (thx!)
posted by not_on_display at 6:05 PM on March 13, 2009

Reminds me of Songkran in Bangkok, though there it's water and white powder instead of colors.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 6:07 PM on March 13, 2009

Reminds me of Songkran in Bangkok, though there it's water and white powder instead of colors.

...and Songkran's now a commercial week long drunk fool fest.
posted by gman at 6:12 PM on March 13, 2009

From a color photography point of view, that is seriously an amazing set of pictures. Wow.
posted by metastability at 6:20 PM on March 13, 2009

One of the things I like about Holi is Barfi. It's not really easy to spread the extra-heathen sounding religious holiday with the vomity-sounding treats to mainstream America.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:33 PM on March 13, 2009

They featured this holiday in the movie "Outsourced".

I totally thought they made it up. Huh.
posted by orme at 7:08 PM on March 13, 2009

When I looked through these pictures earlier today, my mind kept trying to figure out what elements and compounds created each color. Then I decided I didn't want any of it getting in my eyes or mouth.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:34 PM on March 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

...and Songkran's now a commercial week long drunk fool fest.

You say that as if it were a bad thing.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 9:59 PM on March 13, 2009

*duck and cover*
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 11:32 PM on March 13, 2009

Holi falls a short time after my birthday. There's some cine film in the family archives of me as a newborn* covered in red paint with a stupidly happy grin on my face. Because I was white (nicknamed "The Lightbulb") I was target #1 for the kids in the village. This film makes me happy every time I see it, but my mother's expression is less enthusiastic - she's clearly thinking "what's in this stuff?"

Anyway, I turned out OK gibber, gibber.

I miss India.

(*Although maybe I'm not newborn, maybe it's just after my first birthday - I'm not sure.)
posted by WPW at 6:24 AM on March 14, 2009

That's some happy looking people
posted by mert at 11:25 AM on March 14, 2009

Indian boy survives being impaled on metal pole
posted by homunculus at 4:22 PM on March 14, 2009

RE: Indian boy impaled - ho-ly crap. That's impressive.
posted by Mali at 8:07 PM on March 14, 2009

You can use all-natural, vegetable-based holi colors, for what it's worth. That's the really oldfashioned kind, anyway. I've been meaning to throw a holi party for some time. The way I figure, if I learn enough Indian cooking and appreciate enough Indian culture, I'll earn the right to wear a sari.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:37 PM on March 14, 2009