Festival of colours: India celebrates spring with Holi

Holi, India’s joyful and colorful celebration of the arrival of spring combined with several religious legends, has long ceased to be only a Hindu festival. The streets and lanes across most of India on Friday turned into a large playground where people of all faiths threw colored powder and water at each other. The celebration begins the night before Holi, when large bonfires are lit, to mark the victory of good over evil. Children toss water balloons at unsuspecting passers-by, and coloured powder is thrown in the air and smeared over everyone’s skin. Being covered in colour brings relative anonymity, and in largely conservative India, this also means Holi is a time when men and women and boys and girls can mingle with relative freedom.

Asia-Pacific Holi