SMU student Anisha Chandra attempts to throw water on Asad Berani as part of the Holi celebration sponsored by the Indian Student Association Thursday afternoon at Sorority park. (MICHAEL DANSER/The Daily Campus)

The Indian Student Association (ISA) wanted to introduce SMU to one of its favorite holidays on Thursday. Holi, known as a festival of color, is a spring religious holiday celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs.

This year Holi is on March 20, but ISA celebrated the festival early in Burleson Park before everyone left for spring break.

Holi is a celebration where people throw bags of colored powder and water at each other. Traditionally, people show up in white clothing and by the end of the day their clothing is a rainbow of different colors.

“ISA started Holi at SMU last year because it is a big part of our culture and it’s a fun event to partake in it,” ISA President Sana Merchant said. “I love Holi because you get to throw colors at your friends and just have a good time while getting to learn more about Indian culture.”

The cool weather did not keep people from coming to the celebration.

This year ISA bought over 100 bags of color, and within 10 minutes of opening the box, there were no colors left. Everyone was covered from head to toe in colors and water.

“I love going to ISA’s events because it is like they bring a part of India to the SMU student body,” senior Ashmi Patel said.

“It’s always a lot of fun to do things you haven’t done before. The entire concept is really fun,” junior Alex Ehmke said.

This is ISA’s second year of celebrating Holi on campus, and the organization hopes to continue the tradition every year.

ISA will also be hosting its annual talent show that showcases Indian dances and musical performances on March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium.