The South Asian Association of Tulane University hosted a celebration of Holi on Saturday on Newcomb Quad, attracting over 200 festival-goers. 

The Hindu “Festival of Colors,” Holi, occurs on the last full moon day of Phalgun, a Hindu lunisolar month, marking the end of winter. Holi celebrates the defeat of the Hindu demoness Holika and the love story of the gods Krishna and Radha.

Featuring attractions like snowballs, a bouncy house and a dunk tank, the festival gave students a chance to escape the troubles of daily life and get together with friends.

“The whole point of Holi is going around, letting away your troubles and just spending time with your friends,” Eishan Tejwani, a SAATU logistics committee member, said. “It represents unconditional and unrequited love.”

“Holi is just a festival where all the South Asians on campus can come together and have a good time,” SAATU Treasurer Rahul Madhaban said.

The celebration also gives South Asian students a chance to build a community around shared culture.

“Holi is just a celebration of spring and life. Honestly, it’s just a great time for people to come together and have that community on campus,” SAATU Co-President Roma Kolluru said.

“This is something that all of our parents celebrated at home,” Kushi Ali, one of SAATU’s external vice presidents, said.

During the celebrations, no one is safe from being doused with color. Students ran across Newcomb Quad, trying to spray their friends with water guns and smear colored powder made of corn starch in each other’s hair. 

Strangers took turns tossing fistfuls of yellow, blue, green and red at each other while dodging blasts from water guns.

Revelers dined on samosas, chicken 65, aloo gobi, naan and other foods from local Indian restaurant Al Noor before washing them down with mango lassis and canned soda. Next to the Indian catering stood an Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls table, offering cool refreshments in the 80-degree heat.

SAATU, which rebranded from the Indian Association of Tulane University last year, has run the event for four years, Kolluru said.

Holi is one of SAATU’s two biggest events, the other being Diwali, the “Festival of Lights”, which occurs in the fall, Madhaban said. 

Significant planning goes into the celebration, which requires SAATU to organize vendors, purchase color powders and cater food. “We balled out this year,” Madhaban said.

“I’m just really glad that SAATU has created a place for people to come together, even people who you know might have nothing to do with it in the first place,” Ali said.