When Charu Das gets ready for his annual Holi Festival of Colors, at his Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, he is in awe of what it has become.
“We just wanted to get people together to chant the names of God,” Das said. “In Christianity, it says wherever two or three are gathered, God himself comes and he stays there. We have similar statements in our own scriptures. The benefits of coming together as children of God and glorifying our common father. That’s our goal.”
Das’ and his wife Vaibhavi Devi started their Holi Festival of Colors event in 1995, even before the construction of the temple. Das said that he walked around to local shops with flyers, hoping to invite anyone who would like to join him in his celebration.
“The first Festival of Colors advertisement was me going from coffee shop to coffee shop with flyers,” he recalled. “The first year, there were eight people.”
Today, thousands of people from around the world come to the Krishna Temple, and Das said that it has become something that he never envisioned. He also said that even with the growth, that it is still very much a peaceful gathering.
“It is a very friendly crowd,” he said. “People are there to celebrate differences, so they are predisposed to have a peaceful, friendly, congenial tone. When you go to a sporting event like football and rodeos, there is an undercurrent of violence, so it doesn’t take much to inflate that into an incident. Here, there’s no partisanship. There’s no competition at the Festival of Colors, so the seeds of violence aren’t there.There’s nothing about it that’s exclusive; everything is inclusive.”
Violence may not be present at his events, but in June of last year, the temple was damaged by a series of gunshots. Das spoke about the incident, and said that he was grateful that nobody was hurt. He said that even with the damage, something beautiful came from it.
“Many neighbors and friends chipped in to help, and so many strangers donated,” Das said. “The damage was about $3,000 worth, and we tripled that amount in fundraising. I’m not happy it happened, but it is a good illustration of God using what was meant for your harm for your good.”
As Das prepares to welcome upwards of 15,000 people to his temple grounds for the festival, he said that he has the same goals that he did when he started it 31 years ago.
“One student posted on a (social media) thread that the people at Festival of Colors don’t care who you are or where you come from; they just love you,” Das said. “That’s the way it is in the spiritual world. You don’t have to prove yourself. You’re God’s child. Your’e already favored. There’s no qualifications, judging, name calling in the spiritual world. We want to give people a taste of that at the Festival of Colors.”
The Holi Festival of Colors will take place March 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and March 29 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.. The festival is located at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple, 311 West 8500 South.
Tickets for the Holi Festival of Colors can be found at festivalofcolorsusa.com.
