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TRH celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi with schoolchildren in Neasden, London

4th March 2009

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi today with colour, dance and music in North-West London.

Their Royal Highnesses visited the Swaminarayan School in Neasden and marked the occasion with youngsters there.

The Prince and The Duchess laughed as they watched children playing Holi - throwing coloured powder and water at each other.

They watched about a dozen students dressed in white robes splattering each other with brightly coloured dyes and waters as Indian music was played.

The celebration was held in the Neasden school's sports hall in front of hundreds of other pupils and dignitaries from the London borough of Brent.

The Prince and The Duchess were welcomed to the hall by hundreds of children waving Union Flags and lively drumming.

Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and marks the changing seasons.

The vibrancy of the festival reflects the beauty associated with spring blossoms and the colour they bring.

The Prince and The Duchess watched the event and afterwards threw flower petals over the powder-covered youngsters once their display was over.

Earlier, The Prince and The Duchess toured classrooms at the school, founded in 1991 by Shri Pramukh Swami Maharaj, spiritual guru of an international Hindu organisation known as the BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha).

Their Royal Highnesses visited a classroom where five-year-olds were learning about St David’s Day.

The Prince sat down with the children and made daffodil chains with them, while The Duchess met young bakers who were making treats.

They also visited an art class where older children, aged around 14 years of age, were painting brightly coloured pictures to celebrate Holi.

Before visiting the school, The Prince and The Duchess visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London – popularly known as the Neasden Temple.

The breathtaking stone and marble Mandir – built through a labour of love and sacrifice – has become the icon of Hindu culture in the western hemisphere and is the biggest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere.

Watch the video below from The Royal Channel on YouTube: