On Sunday, February 2nd, ISKCON Auckland hosted its annual Krishna Holi celebration at its lively 88-acre farm, New Varsana, drawing a record-breaking crowd of 15,000 visitors.  With clear skies and warm sunshine marking the final month of summer, visitors were eager to sing, dance, relish Krishna prasadam, and, of course, partake in the traditional throwing of coloured dyes.

The main stage hosted various musical performances of different styles, each incorporating the chanting of the maha-mantra. As the crowd of thousands swayed along to the reggae, pop, rap, Bollywood, and techno dance music, vibrant dyes were smeared on smiling faces and thrown into the air, creating large colourful plumes of pink, orange, green, and red. The local Fire Brigade was also in attendance and showered the crowd with brightly coloured pink and green cooling water to the delight of those in the hot sun.

After an afternoon of chanting and dancing, visitors followed the alluring aroma of Krishna prasadam to the festival’s many food stalls, where teams of devotees distributed  diverse flavours of refreshment. Thousands of plates of prasadam were enjoyed, with many guests taking prasadam for the first time and being impressed by the taste of vegetarian and vegan savories and sweets.

Holi attendees were also eager to explore inside the temple and take darshan of the beautiful deities, Sri Sri Radha-Giridhari, who were also smeared with Holi colours.  Throughout the festival, the temple was packed with people taking guided temple tours,  purchasing Srila Prabhupada’s books, and leisurely admiring the many attractive paintings of Krishna’s pastimes on the walls and ceilings.

Not only was it a pleasure for the devotees to serve the thousands of visitors to New  Varsana, ISKCON Auckland also had the distinct honour of welcoming the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, to the great festival of colours. The Prime  Minister, accompanied by a few local members of parliament and other dignitaries, also relished the vibrant cultural affair. Temple President Kalasamvara Das warmly received the Prime Minister and dignitaries into the temple, where they had darshan of the deities, and,  following an inspiring explanation of Krishna Consciousness and ISKCON’s origins, the dignitaries had the pleasure of garlanding Srila Prabhupada.

The Prime Minister then made his way to the main outdoor stage, where the cheers of thousands greeted him. Addressing the crowd, he wished them “a very blissful Holi.”  He described how “in a world where we need a lot more unity and tolerance of  diversity…it’s great to see that happening right here this afternoon.” To the delight of festivalgoers, Prime Minister Luxon kicked the party off again by releasing a cannon full of vibrant Holi powder over the excited crowd — a moment that quickly went viral, amassing over 10 million views on Instagram.

Following the celebrations, the dignitaries enjoyed a scrumptious three-course meal of prasadam, which they praised highly. And each guest was gifted a stack of books from  Temple President Kalasamvara before they departed with broad smiles, full stomachs, and colourful dye covering them from head to toe.

ISKCON Auckland also had the great association of Caru Das and Vaibhavi Dasi, who were visiting from Utah and are the pioneers of large-scale Holi festivals within ISKCON. They shared their insights and inspiration with the Auckland devotees. Harinama Ruci, a traveling sankirtan party, was also in attendance, enthusing the crowds by chanting the maha-mantra and distributing books along the way. Happy Holi!

For more photos from the event, click here. You can also follow the festival on Facebook and Instagram.