Falling Stars

I was able to attend the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork this weekend. It was a blast! I was there with Danica, Tyler, Genevieve, Amber, Vivi, Daniel, Emily & Husby. The Festival was held at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. The temple was beautiful, and there was an animal farm, which is very cool. I love having the opportunity to learn about other cultures! Some of the main points of the celebration are: Friendship, The end of Winter and welcoming of Spring, and the legend of the miraculous burning of the demon king's sister, Holiku, and the life of his son who showed devotion to 'God' (instead of himself, the demon king) and was not burned in that same fire. I enjoyed being able to see the dancing, as I haven't had the chance to experience that before. The clothing that was worn was so beautiful, vibrant, colorful, and flowing!

It is a great thing when people are allowed to participate in celebrations that are sacred to another culture. The event was celebrated with dancing, music, and the lighting of a fire signaling that the throwing of colors would begin. Amongst all of the joviality, there were two things that bothered me: 1) People began throwing colors before the fire was lit. Now this wasn't the part that bothered me, but my next sentence will explain what did: The announcer announced into the microphone numberous times that it was not yet time for the throwing of the colors. Immediately after each announcement, people would throw their colors into the air. It bothered me because the Festival is an important cultural celebration, and people were not being respectful of that. I hope that it was because they were incapable of hearing the announcer requesting that they not throw colors until ready. 2) People kept dumping their trash onto the ground. There was a LOT of trash. Now, I do realize that there were not a lot of garbage receptacles, but we were still at a temple. It was not our temple, but it was still a temple. It's understandable, maybe, to accidentally lose a bag of trash in the craziness, but there should not be a pile of like 20 bags being trampled in the middle of a field. I don't know all of the circumstances in which some of the things which bothered me occurred, but it is a reminder for me to teach my children respect for other cultures, as well as the property of others. It is also a reminder to me to be more mindful of the things which I do which could harm others, or show disrespect. This has nothing to do with being a people-pleaser. It is ALL about respect.

The two things that annoyed me did not lessen the overall enjoyment I felt in participating in the Festival. After our Zach & I parted ways with our friends we went to the Indian Buffet on University Avenue. I think I (well, I know) I enjoyed it more than Zach. I'd never had Indian food before. It wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be, but I avoided the one or two things that I knew would be too spicy for me! I had two yummy plates of food. I would eat it again, but I think I would need to find someone to come with me that wasn't Zach who would enjoy it more. [I love my hubby, but we've already discussed this situation :) ]

Anyhow, I will post some pictures now, and more later... once I download them onto the computer.

This is the URL to Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple which talks about the festival: http://www.utahkrishnas.com/main/page.asp?id=1332
And the URL to the Daily Universe Article abou the festival:
http://newnewsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/71982