AP PHOTOS: Colors come out as Hindus celebrate Holi festival
Posted March 01, 2018 6:00 am
NEW DELHI (AP) - Winter ends, spring arrives and the colors come out.
Across India and Nepal, millions of Hindus are celebrating Holi, the joyous festival of color, smearing one another with colored powder and spraying each other with squirt guns.
The two-day festival of Holi is mainly celebrated on Friday this year, but has countless variants and traditions, and some festivals began days ago. By Thursday afternoon, it was easy to find office workers in central New Delhi with their faces smeared red and yellow.
While its roots are religious, tied in many ways to the god Krishna, Holi is also seen as a celebration of good versus evil, and of a good harvest.
Locals dance during Holi festival celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
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In this Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, file photo, locals light up a color smoke candle as a procession of Hindu's lord Krishna's chariot moves through a street during Holi in Kolkata, India. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
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The face of a woman is smeared with colored powder during Holi, the Hindu festival of colors in Kolkata, India, Thursday, March 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
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Locals dance on a street and celebrate Holi in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. The festival also heralds the coming of spring. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
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Local girls strike a pose as they play with colored powder during Holi in Jammu, India, Thursday, March 1, 2018. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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Girls smear colored powder on each other as they celebrate Holi in Jammu, India, Thursday, March 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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A local man throws color as another plays a traditional drum during Holi celebrations in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Thursday, March 1, 2018. The festival marks the advent of spring. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
The Associated Press
Locals play with masks and colored powder during Holi festival celebrations in Jammu, India, Thursday, March 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
The Associated Press
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