On Friday Feb 26 2010 evening, more than 350 members of Indian community around Wisconsin, participated in the Holi Festival (Festival of colors) Celebration at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, organized by Hindu Temple of Wisconsin.

The evening program started around 6:30 PM with Holika Dahan, where people gathered around fire outside in the parking lot of the temple. After Holika Dahan, Abhir and variety of cultural programs followed by dinner.

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The main day, Holi, also known as Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. Bonfires are lit the day before, also known as Holika Dahan (death of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad had when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in Andhra Pradesh.

-Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi

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The music band “Indian Rhythms” headed by Meenal rocked the stage in the evening with vocal and various instruments including Guitar by Ritwick, Drums by Sudeep/Suparna, keyboard by Meenal. Nayeem, Vijay, Mukta and Sudeep were added to show with their vocal (Click here for the video clip).

What a superb performance by Tanushi and Riya. They performed dance for the song “Holiya Mein Udey Gulaal” – A Rajastani song. This dance was well received by the audience (Click here for the video clip).   Next on the stage were a group of 6 girls (age group 6-8 years) dressed same for the Hindi Medley including dance for the song ‘Dance Pe Chance Mar Le’ (Click here for the video clip).   Ananya and Vishrut entertained the audience with their lovely dance for the Hindi song ‘Salaam Namaste’ (Click here for the video clip).   Nishi and Isha performed the dance for the song “Zoobi Doobi” from the recently released Amir Khan’s super hit film 3 Idiots. This dance was a crowd pleasure (Click here for the video clip).

One has to salute for the authenticity and energy in Anu Bansal. Like every year, this year also she pleased the crowd with her dance for the classic Holi Song “Holi Hai…..” (Click here for the video clip). In this video you can hear whistles and claps from the audience throughout the dance. Wonderful performance….keep it up Anu. We want to see more such dances in coming years.