Ohio Hindus Hope Festival of Holi will End Violence in India

March 22, 2002

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On March 22, 2002, The Columbus Dispatch reported that Columbus, OH area Hindus "hope that this year's observance of Holi, a major spring holiday of their faith, will end the religious violence that has killed some 700 Muslims and Hindus in India in recent weeks... Part of the celebration... involves people in spraying one another with colored water or splattering each other with colored powder... Smearing others with colors has a leveling effect... 'This festival transcends all sectarian traditions,' said Shive K. Chaturvedi, a member of the Bharatiya Hindu Temple in Powell, [OH]... 'The Holi celebration tends to transcend all the established hierarchies of caste, color, sex, age, wealth, power and attitudes,' Chaturvedi said."