One of the most visually stunning festivals of the year wrapped up on Monday, and the event was gorgeous as usual. The Holi Festival or Festival of Colors is a Hindu festival that celebrates love and the triumph of good over evil. In India and Nepal, the holiday encompasses two days of events — most recognizable being the full day spent throwing bright, colorful powdered pigment at people in the streets. The joyous festival is a marker for the arrival of spring, and the fun is infectious.
These days, there are incarnations of Holi held around the world — though it would be impossible to match the pure scale of the celebration in India, where millions join in.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl90KZBFCr/
It’s a wild mess of a day — now featuring all sorts of new color-soaking methods from buckets to super soakers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl7bx2AQYA/
Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the festival has bred some troubling patterns that need to be addressed. There are concerns of sexual assault that spring up around the celebration — with men using the big crowds and playful nature of the holiday as an excuse to grope and harass women. The answer for a number of women’s dorms in India this year was to simply lock the women in and keep them from going out on the streets to enjoy/participate in the festival. It’s a troubling fix, one that perpetuates a “boys will be boys” attitude.
We should all strive to live in a world where the responsibility and onus for treating people with respect is shared. Until we do, women will be continued to be blamed and marginalized for simply existing.
It’s a topic that needs mentioning (even in a photo roundup), because Holi should be a time to be happy — with everyone enjoying the festival without worry.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl98_zjSp1/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl9YIQBVfL/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl8Ax3B3c8/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl7OIXlZt1/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl8V3Llkgo/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl61gpBr0i/
