The night before the Holi Festival (the celebration of spring and color), the children from Yashodhara held, together with other organizations, a ceremony called Holika. The ceremony symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and the victory of a true devotee. They made a big pile of wood and when dusk came, they set it on fire. The children began to run around it, screaming and howling, following the tradition. It was a beautiful night with a full moon and the festival had just begun. Then they headed home to have a delicious special dinner and go to sleep.
The next morning they woke up very early and eagerly looked for the adults in the house, who had left barrels of water and prepared many envelopes with colored powder the night before. The envelopes were handed out and ... off they went! All through the morning the children threw buckets of colored water, dust and even water mixed with mud to each other. They ran, planned ambushes, went to look for their friends at other buildings ... anyone who came near them was showered with color and joy. They wondered whether Holi was celebrated in Spain also, since they wanted to share it with the people who care for them.
In Girona, Spain, on the same day and for the fourth year in a row, there was a Body Techniques Workshop and Dances to raise funds for Asha-Kiran’s Projects. And this year, they also celebrated Holi there to welcome the spring and its radiant colors.