Written by Jessie Thisell: April 10, 2005
Phagwah Parade
The Holiday: Phagwah or Holi
The parade celebrates the Hindu festival called Phagwah by Caribbean Hindus, a festival known typically as Holi in North India, where it originated. The festival is named after the lunar month of Phagun (Hindi: Phalgun), during which it occurs. On the Gregorian calendar the holiday falls sometime in the month of February or March. The holiday is associated with Lord Krishna who would play Holi with particular gusto. He would take a pichkari (a water squirting device) and spray water on his companions, the villagers, an act that characterizes Phagwah celebrations today. Gulal is a powdered dye which is sprinkled when people are playing Holi. The dye is often dissolved in water and squirted on people during the festivities. During the Phagwah celebration everyone is covered with the brightly colored dyes. The rainbow of colors reflects the gaiety associated with this springtime festival.
Following the parade, spectators in Smoky Park are covered with gulal, baby powder and liquid dye.
Preparations for Phagwah begin forty days prior to the actual date, when a castor oil plant symbolizing Holika is ritually buried. Holika, after whom the festival Holi was named, was sister to the demon king named Hirnakashyipu (also spelled Hiranyakashipu), who was burnt to death by Lord Vishnu when he threatened to kill his son Prahalad, one of Vishnu’s greatest devotees. Over the next month straw and wood are piled on the plant until the pile is fifteen feet high. On the eve of Phagwah the pile is burned and there is celebrating around the bonfire. The next day is Phagwah and people celebrate by throwing dye–and in the Caribbean, having parades. People often describe the Phagwah festivities as “Playing Phagwah”.
In New York City these practices have been modified to suit the densely populated urban environment, where Phagwah is not a national holiday, as in Guyana. Fires are burned the evening before Phagwah, but they are small fires outside individual mandirs (temples). The following day mandirs celebrate Phagwah with services which retell the story of Holika, emphasize the triumph of good over evil, and explain how these lessons can be applied to our everyday lives. This is also a time to celebrate spring and rebirth, and colored powders are sprinkled on attendees clothed in white, the color of purity. The following day a larger celebration is held in a local park, where all of the mandirs join together to “play Phagwah” with dancing and a live band. Some years this would be the day of the parade; other years, as in 2005, the parade takes place the following weekend.
In Guyana, where most of the parade organizers were born, Phagwah is a national holiday, so there is no school or work. The parade can take place the day after burning Holika–on the actual day of the Phagwah holiday. In New York, however, the parade has to be planned around the schedule of the city. In 2005 Easter fell on March 27th, the Sunday immediately after Phagwah and the day that would normally have been chosen for the parade. Because of Easter, however, the police department requested that the parade be held the following weekend so officers would not have to work overtime on a holiday many of them celebrate.
Caribbean Hindus
Holi is celebrated by Hindus throughout the New York area, but the Phagwah parade in New York City is sponsored by Caribbean (mostly Guyanese) Hindus. Hindus first arrived in the Caribbean in the 1830’s after slavery was outlawed by the British Empire. They were brought there as indentured laborers until the 1920’s. Some Indian institutions, such as the caste system faded away, but the immigrants worked very hard to preserve their religious traditions amongst the diverse cultures of the Caribbean. Political upheavals in the 1960’s and 70’s led Indo-Caribbeans to migrate to the United States, Canada and Britain. Today there are over 250,000 Indo-Caribbeans living in the New York metropolitan area. Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens is the center of the Guyanese Hindu population in New York and the main thoroughfare for the Phagwah Parade. Along this street there are sari shops, grocery stores, and restaurants which demonstrate the fusion of Indian and Caribbean cuisines.
History of the Parade in New York
The parade formally began in 1990, but in 1989 the Arya Spiritual Center (also featured on this website) sponsored a small parade for the children who attended their vacation camp. While in Bombay, Pandit Ramlall of the Arya Spiritual Center had seen a Christian children’s parade and been inspired to start something similar in New York. The children who participated in the parade he organized were exuberant and greatly enjoyed themselves, which provided inspiration for launching a general Phagwah Parade in New York City that would be similar to the one which was customary in Guyana. The first parade did not feature any floats and only attracted 5,000 people. There was one decorated convertible, but aside from that, the procession was primarily on foot. Since then the parade has grown each year. In 2005 it was anticipated to attract at least 60,000 people and featured nearly twenty floats. Pandit Ramlall still serves on the parade committee.
The Parade in 2005
The parade is sponsored by the Federation of Hindu Mandirs and the Arya Spiritual Center. Planning for the parade begins in December. A parade permit must be obtained from the city and a permit for Smoky Park, where it culminates, is obtained from the parks department. The parade’s floats are sponsored by mandirs and local businesses. In the spring of 2005 the floats proceeded in the following order:
1. Shri Devi Mandir
2. Bhuvaneshwar Mandir
3. USA Pandit’s Parishad
4. Arya Spiritual Center
5. Arya Samaj USA
6. Shri Trimurti Bhavan
7. Herman Singh Show
8. Bhavaanee Maa Mandir
9. Kali & Dani Realty
10. United Community Mandirs
11. Shri Maha Kali Devi Mandir
12. Shree Tulsi Mandir
13. NMCRA Connectors Realty/Western Union
14. New York Hindu Sanatan Mandir
15. Club Tobago.com
16. North American Airlines
17. Kaieture Restaurant and Bar
Businesses also support the parade by sponsoring specific aspects such as restrooms or park clean-up, and they give away free coffee and tea in the park.
North American Airlines was one of the businesses which sponsored a parade float in 2005.
On most floats members of a mandir dance to traditional Indian and Caribbean music. Some groups, such as the Richmond Hill High School, do not have a float, but march on foot with a banner. In the past colored dyes were thrown from the floats, and children squirted each other with water guns filled with liquid dye. This year both activities were prohibited. Over the past few years concerns have been raised over the colored dye: some claim it stains the streets or buildings. Parade planners say the dye plays such an integral role in the festival that not using it, or replacing it with confetti, is impossible, but they have made efforts to eliminate the throwing of color from the parade itself and confine it to the Phagwah play that ensues in Smoky Park once the parade is completed. The organizers explained these new rules on a flyer that was distributed throughout Queens, hoping to eliminate some of the problems. The flyer read:
To Ensure a Safe, Orderly & Meaningful Parade, Please Obey The Following Rules:
ONLY PROFESSIONAL FLOATS, ONLY RELIGIOUS/PHAGWAH SONGS, NO SUPER SOAKERS, DO NOT THROW POWDER FROM THE FLOATS, NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED, NO SELLING OF ANY PRODUCT ON PARADE ROUTE OR AROUND PARK.
In 2005 the parade also featured parade marshals to help keep order. Each mandir provided four people who were trained by the police department to enforce the new rules. At the beginning of the parade route police were confiscating baby powder and dye, and telling people that these substances should only be used in the park after the parade. As the parade progressed down Liberty Avenue, however, more and more children were wiping dye on one another’s faces and throwing baby powder.
Children along Liberty Avenue were covering each other in dye and baby powder while enjoying the parade.
By 10:00 a.m. the floats were delivered from the Bond Float Company in New Jersey, festooned with the signs and decorations which the mandirs had ordered. Then members of the mandirs or businesses sponsoring the floats personalized them with balloons and garlands. Sybil’s Restaurant on the corner of 133rd Street and Liberty Avenue provided an assembly point for the parade participants and organizers. There were coffee and doughnuts and the pandits and organizers met with Councilman McLaughlin and his representatives.
The pandits on the parade committee meeting with Councilman McLaughlin.
At noon the parade began, with the parade organizers carrying a banner which read, “Happy Phagwah To One and All- From the Phagwah Parade Committee 2005 – God Bless.” Each float had a unique design, but certain themes were seen throughout the parade. Naturally the parade featured religious imagery such as Hindu gods and the Om symbol. There were also many examples of ethnic pride, with Guyanese flags prominently displayed, but many American flags as well, demonstrating the dual identities of many of the participants.
The Shri Maha Kali Devi Mandir features a Guyanese flag and balloons in the flag's colors of red, green, yellow and white.
Advertisements for local businesses were hung on the sides of the floats, and several floats were giving away treats such as CD’s, T-shirts, bandanas, and Pepsi. The parade proceeded down Liberty Avenue from 133rd St. to 123rd St., where it turned right. At 95th St. the parade made another right turn and terminated in Smoky Oval Park.
The parade terminated in Smoky Park where members of the community spoke, children from the local mandirs performed cultural programs, and everyone continued to "Play Phagwah". A cloud of baby powder is visible over the heads of the crowd.
Once the majority of the spectators arrived in the park the pandits gave a blessing and initiated a moment of silence for Pope John Paul II. Organizers then thanked people instrumental in planning the parade and former Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer spoke. A Muslim cleric also spoke and said that the good relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Queens should be an example to the world that Hindus and Muslims can leave together peacefully. The speeches were followed by cultural programs featuring youth from the local mandirs. Throughout the park people were covering each other in baby powder, gulal, and liquid dye. Towards the back of the park there were circles of drummers and more children playing. The weather was overcast, somewhat cool, and rain descended periodically, but morale was high and the mood was joyous, reflecting the spirit of the holiday.
Bibliography
Bahadur, Om Lata. The Book of Hindu Festivals and Ceremonies. New Delhi: UBSPD, 1994.
Berger, Joseph. “Guyanese Immigrants Cautious About Being Labeled.” The New York Times 17 December 2004: B1.
Goswami, Shrivatsa. Celebrating Krishna. Vrindavan: Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana, 2001.
Vertovec, Steven. Hindu Trinidad: Religion, Ethnicity and Socio-Economic Change. London: MacMillan, 1992.
Vertovec, Steven. The Hindu Diaspora: Comparative Patterns. London: Routledge, 2000.