‘A Burst of Fun’: Harvard Students and Affiliates Celebrate Holi in Harvard Yard

More than 100 Harvard students and affiliates gathered in New Yard on Sunday afternoon for a colorful event co-hosted by Harvard Dharma and the Harvard College Dean of Students Office — Holi.

Holi is the Hindu Festival of Colors, an event during which participants throw colored water and powders onto one another. The festival, which fell on March 14 this year, traditionally follows the evening of a full moon and celebrates the arrival of spring.

Harvard’s celebration this year marked the first time Dharma collaborated with the DSO to host the annual event, as well as the first time Holi was hosted in Harvard Yard.

The collaboration with the DSO is a part of a new Religion, Ethics, and Spirituality pilot initiative led by Associate Dean of Students for Inclusion and Belonging Alta Mauro.

Mauro said the initiative aims to address “what does it mean to be a person of faith, to have a religious practice, to have a certain ethical approach to the world?”

“One of the things that we’ve heard from Harvard College students in the past few years is it’s difficult for some people to reconcile themselves as a scholar and a person of faith,” Mauro said, adding that the College’s Intellectual Vitality initiative emerged from those concerns.

Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne said he hoped the festivities would introduce students from various backgrounds to the religious significance of the tradition, noting that several students would join in as they passed by the Yard.

“We could see people that were walking by from the library run back to their dorms, change, and come back out,” he said. “So it was really picking people up as it went.”

Dunne himself participated in the event and was covered in an assortment of green, blue, and pink hues.

“I didn’t know what to expect, and the colors were flying fast and furious,” he said. “They kept introducing colors, so it got more and more vibrant as the event went on. It was a lot of fun.”

A section of the Yard was sectioned off with yellow tape for the festivities, and the organizers provided food including pizza, samosas, and dumplings.

Dharma Co-President Vishnu S. Emani ’26 described Holi as “a burst of fun” and a celebration rooted in Hindu mythology.

“It’s not necessarily as religiously coded as other holidays are, and so people from all sorts of backgrounds can come and enjoy,” Emani said.

“It’s just a joyous festival, and we want to spread that,” Dharma Co-President Amiya E. Tiwari ’26 added.

Several attendees said they appreciated the relocation to the Yard this year, as opposed to previous years, when Holi was hosted outside of the Malkin Athletic Center or on the Quad Lawn.

For Sahana Thayagabalu ’27, the event felt like “home here at Harvard.”

“I went back home and we celebrated Holi at home, but it’s nice to do it with all your friends in college,” she said.

Adam Pearl ’25 described the festivities as “free-spirited fun.”

“It’s just amazing to see so many people together so happy at the same time,” he said.

“Best event of Harvard. Ever,” Amav C. Khambete ’27 said.

—Staff writer Alexander W. Anoma can be reached at alexander.anoma@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AnomaAlexander.

—Staff writer Chantel A. De Jesus can be reached at chantel.dejesus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @c_a_dejesus.