Students celebrate the Holi festival in 2011. The festival occurred again on Thursday. (Michael Danser/The Daily Campus)

Speckled with pink, orange, blue, and green, SMU students from all cultures gathered for Indian Students Association’s (ISA) annual Holi celebration.

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. Participants throw colored powder and water at each other in a free for all battle.

The event took place at Sorority Park on Thursday.

Traditionally, Holi celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of spring on the day of the first full moon of March.

It is mainly celebrated in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, but immigrant populations around the world celebrate the event.

Holi is a unique time when social rules and structure are relaxed, as people of different social classes break social norms and play together.

It is a unifying event, where rich, poor, young and old come together to embrace their Hindu faith and celebrate the arrival of spring.

In preparation for the event, the members of ISA set up mini inflatable pools, buckets, water balloons, and water guns filled with dyed water.

“I’m super excited. This is one of the most fun events at SMU because non-ISAers always come, and we get to teach others about Indian culture,” ISA’s vice president, Ankita Krishnan, prior to the event, said.

Students who did not grow up celebrating Holi are making the event a tradition.

“I went last year, and I’m excited to get more colorful than I did last year,” Hayley Wagner, a sophomore, said.

The event lasted about 40 minutes, and by the end, everyone was wet and dirtied with colored powder.

Students enjoyed the thrills of the event and didn’t mind the mess.

“Holi was awesome, and I’ve never looked better,” Nikita Agrawal, a first year, said.

ISA members were enthusiastic with event attendance and optimistic about the future of the event.

“We’re so glad such a diverse number of people showed up. Next year, we hope it is longer and better,” Anisha Durvasula, president of ISA, said.