“May all your lives be as colorful as the Holi festivities which we are eagerly waiting for. Let us make others’ lives as colorful as we want ours to be. May your colorful lives touch the sky with glory.”
– Unknown
Today is Holi– the most colorful and vibrant Hindu festival of India. It’s a celebration of joy, peace, love, and forgiveness. People all over the world rejoice in this festive and playful celebration of the triumph of ‘good’ over ‘evil’. Bright colored powders, known as ‘Gulal’ are smeared on everyone’s faces, accompanied by splashing of colored water and throwing water balloons. The bright colors signify energy, life and joy.
Holi is celebrated at the beginning of Spring, so it has also become known as a celebration of spring, which is fitting as the colors of Holi mimic nature’s simultaneous colorful blossom. I have compiled some of the brilliance of this festival captured in living color from various sources around the world. Please enjoy the splendid display of color, merriment and frolic. Happy Holi!
A Bangladeshi woman shuts her eyes as coloured powder is smeared on her face during celebrations [A.M. Ahad/AP]A student celebrates Holi at university campus in Chandigarh, India. [Ajay Verma/Reuters]Hindu devotees celebrate in the Nandgaon temple in the Uttar Pradesh region on India. [Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters]Hindu devotees daubed in colours sing religious songs in Ahmedabad, India. [Amit Dave/Reuters]Hindu devotees watch the religious festival of Lathmar Holi, where women beat the men with sticks. [Cathal McNaughton/Reuters]Holi marks the beginning of spring. [Cathal McNaughton/Reuters]Lathmar Holi, where women beat the men with sticks, in the town of Barsana in the Uttar Pradesh region of India. [Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters]Nepalis celebrate Holi in Kathmandu. [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters]Pakistani Hindu girls celebrate the festival in Karachi. [Fareed Khan/AP]Pakistani Hindu men and women celebrate Holi in Karachi, Pakistan. [Fareed Khan/AP]A student enjoys herself as she takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata. [AFP Photo]A child get his face smeared with colours as he takes part in Holi celebrations in Chennai. [AFP Photo]This holiday is celebrated mainly in India and Nepal [Bikas Das/AP]The festival of colours is celebrated by painting each other in bright pigments, distributing sweets and squiriting water at one another. [Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP]Tens of millions of Hindus and their friends across the world are revelling in the religious festival that marks the advent of spring. [Aji Solanki/AP]Roadside vendors sell coloured powder in Kolkata, India. [Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters]A woman has her face smeared with coloured powder during Holi celebrations in Hyderabad. [AFP Photo]The Hindu festival of Holi, or the ‘Festival of Colours’ heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter. [AFP/Arun Sankar]The festival of Holi heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter. [AFP Photo]Ahmadabad, India [Ajit Solanki/AP]Bangalore [Jagadeesh NV/EPA]Jammu [Channi Anand/AP]Prince Harry in Nepal [James Whatling/EPA]Vrindavan Widows Playing Holi. [Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters]Kathmandu, Nepal [Narendra Shrestha/EPA]Pakistani Hindus having a bonfire [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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