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Indian Embassy celebrates Holi festival of colours in Ankara
Sabah:19.05.05
The Indian Embassy in Ankara on Sunday celebrated the Holi festival of colours, marking the traditional beginning of spring.
“The festival of colours, Holi as we call it in India, is actually the advent of spring, and for us, it’s also the Indian New Year,” Sanjay Bhattacharyya, India’s ambassador to Turkey, told Anadolu Agency.
This is the time when people put the past behind them and start a new chapter, Bhattacharyya said, adding that the festival is also when everyone has a lot of joy and an abundance of energy is released with a palette of vivid colours.
“It also coincides with the time when all the flowers come out, so it seems as if man and nature are in harmony,” he added.
Envoy said there is also an Indian myth behind the festival, telling of how a “very virtuous person” emerged victorious in a fight versus a demon.
He added that Indians sometimes collect a huge pile of wood and light a bonfire, in a ritual symbolizing the “death of evil” and the rise of virtue and righteousness.
Noting that Indians follow the lunar calendar for festival celebrations, Bhattacharyya said this makes the exact day of the Holi festival vary.
In India, it’s usually held towards the end of March, but it’s when the spring comes in India. In Ankara, spring seems to be coming now.”
The embassy invited many Indians living in Ankara and Istanbul, as well as guests, diplomats, and officials, to the celebration, the ambassador said, adding that the main idea is to come together.
The event was accompanied with Indian music and dance, traditional cuisine, as well as the play of different colours.
(AA)
Indian Embassy celebrates festival of colours in Ankara
Yeni?afak: (Placed 19.05.06)
Holi festival marks advent of spring and is considered India’s New Year, says Indian ambassador to Turkey
The Indian Embassy in Ankara on Sunday celebrated the Holi festival of colours, marking the traditional beginning of spring.
“The festival of colours, Holi as we call it in India, is actually the advent of spring, and for us, it’s also the Indian New Year,” Sanjay Bhattacharyya, India’s ambassador to Turkey, told Anadolu Agency.
This is the time when people put the past behind them and start a new chapter, Bhattacharyya said, adding that the festival is also when everyone has a lot of joy and an abundance of energy is released with a palette of vivid colours.
“It also coincides with the time when all the flowers come out, so it seems as if man and nature are in harmony,” he added.
Envoy said there is also an Indian myth behind the festival, telling of how a “very virtuous person” emerged victorious in a fight versus a demon.
He added that Indians sometimes collect a huge pile of wood and light a bonfire, in a ritual symbolizing the “death of evil” and the rise of virtue and righteousness.
Noting that Indians follow the lunar calendar for festival celebrations, Bhattacharyya said this makes the exact day of the Holi festival vary.
“In India, it’s usually held towards the end of March, but it’s when the spring comes in India. In Ankara, spring seems to be coming now.”
The embassy invited many Indians living in Ankara and Istanbul, as well as guests, diplomats, and officials, to the celebration, the ambassador said, adding that the main idea is to come together.
The event was accompanied with Indian music and dance, traditional cuisine, as well as the play of different colours.
(AA)
‘Holi Festival’ array of bright colours
Hürriyet: (Placed 19.05.07)By Ha?imK?l?ç
Symbolizing the advent of spring in the Indian culture is being highlighted by the ‘Holi Festival’ with its many colourful scenes.
Sanjay Bhattacharyya, India’s Ambassador in Ankara hosted the festival.
The celebration took place in the Embassy and has been attended by Indians living in Ankara, foreign mission representatives as well as many other invitees.
The festival guests’ faces got painted while they were throwing colourful paint powders at one another.
HARMONY BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE
Ambassador Bhattacharyya said: “The festival of colours which we name ‘Holi’ in India, is actually the advent of spring. The start of a new year for India.”
Emphasizing that this celebration marks the time to open a new page in life, Ambassador Bhattacharyya added that visitors of the festival are getting joyful and energetic while painting one another flamboyantly.
Bhattacharyya underlined the importance of the fact that the Holi Festival coincides with the time when flowers bloom and symbolises the harmony between man and nature.
Holi Festival in the capital
Sabah: (Placed 19.05.07)
Symbolizing the advent of spring in the Indian culture is being highlighted by the ‘Holi Festival’ with its many colourful scenes.
Sanjay Bhattacharyya, India’s Ambassador in Ankara hosted the festival.
The celebration took place in the Embassy and has been attended by Indians living in Ankara, foreign mission representatives as well as many other invitees.
At the event where the invited guests were throwing colourful paint powder at one another, Ambassador Bhattacharyya said: “The festival of colours which we name ‘Holi’ in India, is actually the advent of spring. The start of a new year for India.”
