45.1 F
Spokane
Sunday, March 16, 2025
spot_img
HomeNewsLocal NewsPhoto essay: Spokane's Hindu community celebrates new beginnings this Holi

Photo essay: Spokane’s Hindu community celebrates new beginnings this Holi

Date:

Related stories

Ramadan, Lent and the Bahá’í fast align this year revealing a rare lesson in unity

March 2025 brings a rare overlap of Ramadan, Lent and the Bahá'í fast, offering a chance to explore shared spiritual practices and foster unity.

Diocese of Boise opposes Idaho’s new death penalty by firing squad bill

The Diocese of Boise condemns Idaho's firing squad bill, reaffirming the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty, emphasizing mercy and human dignity.

On Purim in wartime, Jews wrestle with a biblical story of retribution

The Purim festival of fun and frivolity has been harder for some Jews to celebrate in the wake of the destruction of Gaza.

FāVS Religion News Roundup: March 14

This week's FāVS Religion News: Spokane migrant arrests, Habitat for Humanity Women Build 2025, Holi festival, school board’s trans policy dilemma & more.

Uncertainty for Spokane’s Haitian migrants — and for employers

Haitian migrants in Spokane face uncertain futures as Trump revokes Temporary Protected Status, while local employers and unions pledge support despite potential deportation threats.

Our Sponsors

spot_img

Photo essay: Spokane’s Hindu community celebrates new beginnings this Holi

News Story by Cassy Benefield | FāVS News

Photos by Gen Heywood | FāVS News

Spokane’s Hindu community had a lot to rejoice for Saturday (March 15) when they celebrated their annual Holi Festival, also known as the Festival of Colors. The first of which was leaving all their mistakes behind to begin anew, as well as the triumph of good over evil.

“Holi marks the beginning of spring,” Spokane Hindu Temple & Cultural Center (SHTCC) member Shweta Mittal said. “Like when in spring, the plants start from the soil. So it also marks the beginning of your life.”

At the conclusion of every ritual, devotees perform Aarti in front of their diety Ganesh. Swar Prajapadi rings the doorway bell contiuously to include sound vibrations within the ceremony. Hindus believe this vibration generates positive energy in and among the people. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

From 10 a.m. to around 1:15 p.m., about 170 people came to watch and participate in this sacred ceremony hosted by SHTCC, which doubled as a fundraiser for the temple.

The attendees joined devotees and symbolically released last year’s negative energy into the flame of the bonfire, which was consecrated in the center of the temple’s room. There they also prayed for and welcomed peace for the new year.

Devotees stand in line waiting to perform Aarti in front of SHTCC’s Ganesh diety. At the beginning of the Holi ceremony, they worshipped at the sacred bonfire. The Holi Festival symbolizes several ideas. One of which is burning away the past year’s negative deeds. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

“Because the fire is so powerful, you cleanse your demons or the body or the soul and then start new,” Mittal said. ‘[You] burn all your ego and your arrogance, all the bad things you were having, because we are human. We make mistakes right?”

The Kohli family performing the Aarti ritual that concludes every service in the temple not just special festivals like Holi. Aarti signifies rejuvantion in making oneself a better human being, which is also the aim of Holi. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
Rahul Sharma and his daughter, Radhika, take a lit lamp, which uses ghee (clarified butter or oil) because it is a natural substance, to praise Ganesh, as part of the Aarti ritual. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

After the sacred rite, the community put on an informal program explaining the source of Holi and sharing their culture through song, dance and food.

Puri brothers, Vivaan (left) and Kayaan (right), tell the two stories Holi is based on. One is the Prahalad, which represents unwavering belief in Dharma and doing right no matter what, including if there is opposition from family and friends, said Himani Agrawal-Gupta, an SHTCC member. This part of Holi usually takes place on day one. On the second day, Hindus celebrate the story of Krishna and the goddess Radha and how their differences in skin color — that Krishna thought would prevent their love — was muted by recoloring their faces to become one. SHTCC condenses what takes place in two days into one event. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

Brothers Vivaan and Kayaan Puri read to the audience about the two stories Holi came from. One was about the young Krishna, who had dark skin and was in love with Radha, who had fair skin. He didn’t know if Radha would love him for his dark complexion. So, he colored her face to match his, at least one telling says. Then, they became a couple. That playful coloring of the face is what is commemorated on Holi.

The other was Prahalad, which symbolizes unwavering belief in the dharma, or the Hindu way of life, and doing the right thing no matter what, even if there remains much opposition from family, friends or acquaintances, said Himani Agrawal-Gupta, an SHTCC member.

Hindus practice this way of life daily, which the festivals magnify by their stories and rituals. At the same time, these rituals keep the history of the dharma alive through the generations, Agrawal-Gupta said.

“The essance of life is told in the form of stories, our value system, the dharma,” Agrawal-Gupta said. “That is the key in every Hindu festival.”

The temple interior shown from the front. SHTCC moved to their new location on 11115 E. Montgomery Drive, Ste. B, the first week of February. The temple space is much larger than their previous two locations and provides greater opportunities for guests and visitors to participate in their rituals. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

Then, the community celebrated their new temple location, which they moved to the first week of February, as well as it being the first day they met their new priest, Devraj Tiwari, a Sanskrit scholar from Nepal.

For nearly nine years, SHTCC has desired to find a permanent home for their temple and cultural center to perform their spiritual practice with more flexibility. While this is still not a permanent temple location for them, it is much larger than ones they have had previously.

Coming from various regions of India, each member practices festivals and rituals a little differently based on where they are from. Now, they have a full-time priest who his able to open the temple and consecrate it and the dieties any day of the week. This gives members the freedom and ability to modify their rituals based on their particular regional culture.

The temple includes a Natraja (above) that represents the cosmic dance of Shiva. This symbolizes how the universe is created and destroyed, which Hindus believe is an ongoing cycle. The object below the Natraja represents the shape of the universe and is named Shivalinga, another form of Shiva. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

Shiva Kiran, who is on SHTCC’s executive commitee, had a hand in arranging the interior of the temple. He said idols, rituals and temples are to be built, sized and placed a certain way according to Agama Shastra, texts that explain Hindu traditions.

This helps the space better carry the vibrations of the sounds made in the rituals and the silences kept for worship, which aid their temple practice, he said.

“When you come to a temple, you need to feel you are in a temple,” Kiran said.

They plan on being at this location for a year, he said, hoping to acheive a permanent home for their temple in 2026.

Shiva Kiran, an SHTCC executive commitee member, helped coordinate the design and layout of the interior of the temple according to texts of their Hindu tradition known as the Agama Shastra. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
SHTCC welcomed their new full-time priest and Sanskrit scholar Devraj Tiwari (with the microphone) at the Holi Festival. It was his first day meeting his new community. From Nepal, he arrived in Washington on a Diversity Visa, and SHTCC hired him after he responded to their priest job listing in the broader state-wide Hindu community. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

Many visitors participated in this year’s Holi temple service due to the larger space. One of them was Antoinette Go, and it was her first time attending a Hindu ceremony.

Her friend Priyanka Chand invited her. The two met in a Müv Fitness Zumba class about three years ago, when COVID restrictions ended.

“We try to exchange each other’s cultures,” Chand said.

Go, a Philipino and an international school teacher of computers, was married in a Buddhist ceremony in Thailand and became familiar with Islam in Pakistan. She said she enjoys learning about other cultures and belief systems.

“I love it. I’m a sucker for this type of thing,” Go said referring to the Holi festival.

Chand said when she came to America, she had no family here. So the community at the temple and her Zumba class — which includes people from five continents — became her family.

“We started building our own family,” Chand said. “We love getting together. Best way to really appreciate another culture is to appreciate their food.”

SHTCC agrees. They served all the attendees a traditional hot Indian meal in the temple after the Holi ritual and the festivities. The entire meal was donated by a devotee of the temple, organizers said.

A traditional Indian meal was served to all who attended at the end of the formal ceremony and just before the group moved onto Mirabau Point Park to throw colors. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

Once everyone had eaten and enjoyed a time of fellowship, they headed to Mirabeau Point Park to meet at 1:30 p.m. There, they threw colors and celebrated their new beginnings dancing to Bollywood music and a Dohl drum.

Manish Gupta (left) and his daughter Anika and wife Himani Agrawal-Gupta at Mirabeu Point Park in Spokane Valley at SHTCC’s Holi Festival on March 15. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
Vipin Goel (left) and Nishant Puri (right) sharing one another’s colors and smiles at the March 15 Holi Festival in Mirabeau Point Park in Spokane Valley. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
Shweta Puri (left), Himani Agrawal-Gupta (center) and Nishant Puri (right) celebrating Holi throwing colors at Mirabeu Point Park in Spokane Valley at SHTCC’s Holi Festival on March 15. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
Holi colors
Siblings Yuvaan (left) and Mehar Yadav throwing colors at one another at Mirabeu Point Park in Spokane Valley at SHTCC’s Holi Festival on March 15. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)

With a new location and a full-time priest, the SHTCC community members are as excited about this next year, said Executive Commitee member Kiran, as they were about celebrating Holi with such joyful abandon and colors yesterday.

With Tiwari helping the temple members learn their dharma better and with more precision, grandparents and parents said they find comfort knowing their youth will carry their way of life forward.

“I will teach our children our culture and our traditions,” Tiwari said.

Jahaan Vijay Oberoi performing namaste, which means ‘I bow to you’ or ‘I bow to the divine in you.’ The image was taken in SHTCC’s new temple on 11115 E. Montgomery Street. Ste. B, in Spokane Valley on March 15, which marked their celebration of Holi. / Photo by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
In the video, Shyam Sunder Rajasegaran plays the Dohl drum while his wife plays the cymbal in Mirabeau Point Park while colors are thrown; Avya Goel performs a dance for the Holi attendees at the temple; and Devika Gates sings with her daughter Naya and son Arjun. / Video by Gen Heywood (FāVS News)
donate

Cassy Benefield
Cassy Benefield
Cassy (pronounced like Cassie but spelled with a 'y') Benefield is a wife and mother, a writer and photographer and a huge fan of non-fiction. She has traveled all her life, first as an Army brat. She is a returned Peace Corps volunteer (2004-2006) to Romania where she mainly taught Conversational English. She received her bachelor’s in journalism from Cal Poly Technical University in San Luis Obispo, California. She finds much comfort in her Savior, Jesus Christ, and considers herself a religion nerd who is prone to buy more books, on nearly any topic, than she is ever able to read. She is the associate editor of FāVS.News.

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
spot_img
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x