Over 300 pounds of colorful powder and 6,500 water balloons were thrown in the air on Sunday as Binghamton University students celebrated Holi, the Indian festival of colors.
The event, which was organized by the Hindu Student Council (HSC) and the Delta Epsilon Psi fraternity, raised over $2,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“We’re celebrating the start of spring by using these bright colors to acknowledge the beauty of life,” said Kirinjit Kaur, the vice president of HSC and a sophomore majoring in integrative neuroscience. “It’s something we want to share with all the students on our Binghamton campus.”
The celebration featured six rounds where students threw red, blue, orange, yellow, purple, green and pink powders and water balloons at one another. Once five rounds were over, there was a free-for-all round where students could throw any powder or water balloons remaining. Then they were divided up into two teams and students were able to throw water balloons at each other to soak the color onto their clothes.
The event was first started three years ago by Tejas Patel, the president of HSC, when the group teamed up with the Interfaith Council (IFC) to host the festival on the Hinman Quad. Since then, the event has grown from 50 people the first year to over 300 this year, Patel said.
“Over the past couple of years … we were able to get more man power and just make the event bigger and bigger,” said Patel, a senior majoring in biology. “It’s grown a lot since where we first started, and it’s great to have people come out and support us.”
Sodexo and Moghul provided Indian food such as samosas and mango lassi for students to snack on. Michael Cariaso, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, said he enjoyed being able to take time off from studying and experience the traditions of a different culture.
“I like coming to Holi because it takes place during the time of year when it’s close to finals week,” Cariaso said. “It’s just a good stress reliever. I get to run around, eat samosas and throw paint and water balloons at my friends; it really gets my mind of my studies for a while.”
Jason Ziegler, a sophomore double-majoring in political science and philosophy, politics and law, said one of the best parts of the event was being able to celebrate with students from across the BU community.
“Coming out to play Holi in this cold weather is so worth it because I get to throw paint and water balloons at my friends and complete strangers,” Ziegler said. “I’m going to celebrate it every year that I’m here at Binghamton.”