Priyanka Jain (junior-biotechnology) smeared bright purple powder on another woman's cheeks and forehead and cried, "Happy Holi!"

About 40 other students threw pink, yellow, red, orange and blue powder and sprayed each other with colored water to observe the Hindu holiday of Holi on Friday afternoon on the HUB lawn.

Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and symbolizes a Hindu story about a boy whose devotion to the god Vishnu allowed him to live through several murder attempts, including drowning and burning.

Orange is Holi's main color because it symbolizes the fire that the boy survived. The green, pink, blue and yellow powders illustrate the colors of spring, Hindu Students Council President Seetal Erramilli said.

The Hindu Students Council, which sponsored the event, called this year's celebration "Holi Cow," and participants wore white T-shirts depicting the animal.

"The name is a play on words," Erramilli (junior-bioengineering) said. "But it also has a double meaning because the cow is considered sacred in our religion."

In India, the Holi celebration occurred two weeks ago, but the Hindu Students Council postponed its celebration to wait for warmer weather, Erramilli said.

While catching his breath from chasing people with a water gun, Mohit Chaudhary (junior-premedicine) said his parents taught him about the celebration when he was little, but this was his first time participating in the festivities.

"In India, it's 10 times as big as this," he said. "It's about having a good time, and it's fun getting random strangers all wet."

In the past, the holiday's celebration took place in the Pollock quad, but this year, the group moved it to the HUB lawn so more people could participate, Erramilli said.

With her shirt soaked and splattered with green and gold powder, Chelsea Prokay (junior-information sciences and technology) said she had never participated in the celebration before but enjoyed it this year.

"The messiness is my favorite part," Prokay said. "It's pretty fun, and it's a great way to meet new people."

Wiping powder from his eyes with the corner of his sleeve, Ronak Amin (senior-economics) said he came to the event because of his involvement in the Indian community.

"The best part is just celebrating and throwing stuff," Amin said. "It's one of the Indian holidays which celebrates both religion and spirituality."

With her face covered in green and orange powder, Jain said she would definitely like to participate in this event again.

"It's so much fun," she said. "I love running up to people and getting them messy."