CHICAGO: Shivalya Hindu Cultural Center in Chicago Downtown celebrated Holi on a grand scale on Saturday March 15.
With Chicago’s brutal winters, it is often difficult to celebrate Holi outdoors due to the frigid temperatures. Shivalya tried to overcome this by inviting its members to celebrate the festival indoors. DISA (Depaul Indian Students Association) joined hands with Shivalya to promote and celebrate Holi this year.
The evening began with Chief Pandit Shri Shastriji leading the prayer in a Holika Dahan. The children were explained the story of Prahlad and the significance of lighting the fire on Holi for Holika Dahan.
After the prayers, the beautifully decorated thalis of colors were brought out and the festival of colors was off to a wonderful beginning. Colors, music, and food added to the celebrations in which over 200 people participated through the course of the evening. Ages 2 to 80 were able to forget the harsh weather and celebrate enthusiastically with non-toxic organic colors. reds, yellows, greens and the ever popular Gulaal were soon coloring the air as everyone enjoyed the festival with chants of Holi Hai and Bura Na Mano Holi Hai.
The volunteer group led by Shail did a fabulous job in keeping the event organized and safe for everyone. The adults enjoyed the delicious meal of Chole Bhature and Samosas and the kids enjoyed pizzas. The volunteers and community stayed afterwards to help clean up to prepare for Satyanarayan Pooja the next day.
Shivalya Hindu Cultural Center was founded in August of 2012 with the purpose of providing a place of worship, celebration and learning for Chicago’s Hindu Community. Shivalya has celebrated many festivals with great enthusiasm over the last year and a half.
The celebration was the perfect amalgamation of prayers and Masti as the entire Shivalya community rejoiced and came together to make it a huge success.
Shailaja Kumar
