Miryang embraces Indian culture to promote tourism

Participants of the Holi Hai festival dance to the music, covered up with color powder in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, March 24, 2019. Courtesy of Indians in Korea

By Lee Hae-rin

"Happy Holi Hai!"

On March 19, dozens of Indian nationals in Korea with powder of various colors on their faces and bodies and a government employee from the southeastern city of Miryang greeted each other during an online meeting to celebrate the ancient Hindu spring festival.

Seen is the poster of the 12th Holi Hai festival, jointly hosted by the Indian community and the Miryang City government on March 19. The event was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtesy of Indians in Korea

Also known as the festival of love and colors, the Holi festival, which falls on March 18 this year, marks the start of spring and signifies the triumph of good over evil. It is a day when people cover themselves in multicolored powder and throw water balloons all with lively dance and music to set aside differences in religion, age, and gender and mend broken relationships.

"We (the Indian community in Korea) have been celebrating Holi in association with Miryang City since 2019," said Amit Gupta, the president of the Indian community in Korea, explaining the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the two parties in 2018 for cultural exchange.

Since 2016, Miryang City has been taking an initiative to promote cultural exchange with India, according to an official from the Miryang City government. Despite the small Indian population in the city, it aims become the center for cultural exchange between the two countries.

In collaboration with the Indian Embassy in Seoul and India's Ministry for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), Vivekananda Yoga University has been established in the city, becoming the first Asian city to have a campus of the Indian university and held an international Yoga conference.

Gupta said the festival started out small in Busan among Indian friends and families here who were missing their home culture. "It was a casual gathering of about 18 people," explained Gupta before this year's celebration, Friday. "With its vivid color, inviting and festive mood, the gathering attracted the attention of passersby and grew exponentially, until it attained over 3,800 registered participants from 110 countries by 2017."

Over 3,800 people joined the Holi Hai festival at the Haeundae beach, Busan, March 2017. Courtesy of Indians in Korea

But the festival faced administrative issues with local authorities and displeased residents of Haeundae Beach as the festival grew beyond anybody's expectations.

But Miryang City government saw an opportunity amid the troubles. "When we heard about the beautiful Holi festival in Busan, we thought we should offer them a location and also administrative and financial support here," the official said.

With the city's geographic accessibility, beautiful scenery, and hospitality, the offer was welcomed by the Indian community, Gupta said.

In 2019, the city and community partnership yielded a grand success when the festival was held at a park by the Miryang River. The event invited over 4,000 party-goers of 80 nationalities from across the country and 500 photographers, while locals and local authorities also welcomed the influx of visitors and its consequent economic boost and promised to continue to support their project.

"Unfortunately, that was the first and last time we celebrated the Holi together, offline, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," the official said. For the 2021 and 2022 festivals, the city offered the community 150 celebration kits with colored powder kits for four people, encouraging the celebration to go on and remain as a tourism asset for the city.

Participants of different nationalities covered in color powder pose during the festival held in Miryang in March 2019. Courtesy of Indians in Korea

"What's really special about the Holi Hai here is that it brings everybody together, people of so many cultures and different backgrounds" explained Gupta on the difference between the celebration here and India.

"It is a unique experience that is more welcome by Korean and international participants. Even in India, it's not easy to gather so many different people for Holi Hai," said Gupta. Only 16 percent of over 2,800 participants in 2016 were Indian nationals, while others came from 90 countries including Korea, the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

"The festival is all about happiness. Nobody is annoyed by spraying colors on each other's faces," said Gupta. "Plus, here we play K-pop and international music along with the Indian songs, too."

Miryang now plans to open an Indian cultural center in 2023 to reinforce the cultural exchange with the partnering country.

"We proved that mutual friendship and collaboration of different cultures could result in synergy. We've started the partnership with Holi Hai, and we welcome Indian nationals to come to visit the center any time to introduce their culture," the official said on the prospect of the partnership.

"I'm very optimistic about the future of this event. It will also strengthen the friendship between the two countries," Gupta said.