A PEACEFUL afternoon in Iffley Village was rocked by thunderous drumming.

The Tree Hotel’s Hindu owners turned the place into a riot of colour to celebrate Holi, the festival of colour, on Saturday. Young and old pelted each other with brightly coloured powder paint made entirely from flowers which hotel manager Mamit Julka brought back from India just days before.

Oxford Mail:

Hotel manager Mamit Julka                         

And Dholi drummers pounded out hypnotic rhythms on two-foot-high drums strapped to their bodies.

Iffley youth worker Helen Bates, 25, who went along to join the party said: “It’s just amazing, Indian culture is so much better than English.

“It’s good fun, it’s sunny and the staff here are really friendly.”


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Hotel co-owner Kavita Pal, who grew up in India, started celebrating Holi at the Tree Hotel last year because she missed it. She said: “Holi is at the beginning of March and it celebrates the end of winter and coming of spring. It also celebrates the victory of good over evil.”

Mrs Pal, originally from Delhi, added: “The festival removes barriers of status, class and caste – when we are covered in colours we are all the same. That is why Holi is such a precious festival.”