RECENT ENTRIES |
- • The Eiffel Tower gets a new glass floor - 10.06
- • Observing rituals of faith - 10.03
- • Daily Life: September 2014 - 10.01
- • Hong Kong protesters refuse to leave - 09.29

Translate into:
(Hint: Use 'j' and 'k' keys to move up and down)
March 19, 2014 |
Holi celebrations 2014
Earlier this week Hindus greeted the turn of winter into spring with a massive display of color. They call their celebration the festival of Holi, and Hindus across India and throughout the world share prayer, camaraderie, special food, and a general sense of mischief as they douse each other in dyes and colored water. The festival has roots to many Hindu legends associated with the triumph of good over evil. --Lloyd Young (35 photos total)

A reveler smeared with colors dances to Bollywood tunes during the Holi festival in Bangalore, India, on March 17. Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February or March) and its main day is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and colored water at each other. (Jagadeesh NV/EPA) #

An Indian boy plays in a pool of colored water, at the end of Holi celebrations, the Hindu festival of colors at the Baldev Temple in Dauji, 180 kilometers (113 miles) south of New Delhi, India, on March 18. The Baldev Temple is known for a ritual where the women playfully hit men with whips made of cloth as men throw buckets of water mixed with orange dye. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press) #

Indian revelers cover each other with colored powder and dance while taking part in Holi festival celebrations in Guwahati on March 17. Holi, the festival of colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India and Nepal at the end of winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month. (Biju Boro/AFP/Getty Images) #

An Indian child adorned with colored powder poses for a photograph while taking part in celebrations for the spring festival Holi in Bhubaneswar on March 16. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colors is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month. (Asit Kumar/AFP/Getty Images) #

Indian Hindu widows and Harijan, or former untouchable, women play with colored water for the first time as part of Holi celebrations organized by a non-governmental organization Sulabh at the Meera Sahbhagini Ashram in Vrindavan, India, on March 14. The widows, many of whom at times have lived desperate lives in the streets of the temple town, celebrated the festival at the century old ashram. After their husband's deaths the women have been banished by their families, for supposedly bringing bad luck, to the town where devotees believe Lord Krishna was born. (Manish Swarup/Associated Press) #

Indian children play in a pool of colored water at the end of Holi celebrations, the Hindu festival of colors at the Baldev Temple in Dauji, 180 kilometers (113 miles) south of New Delhi, India, on March 18. The Baldev Temple is known for a ritual where the women playfully hit men with whips made of cloth as men throw buckets of water mixed with orange dye. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press) #

A Hindu priest throws colored powder over devotees as they celebrate the Holi festival at the Radha Krishna temple in Kolkata on March 17. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colors is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month. (AFP/Getty Images) #

A widow throws flowers into the air during the Holi celebrations organized by non-governmental organization Sulabh International at a widows' ashram in Vrindavan in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on March 14. Traditionally in Hindu culture, widows are expected to renounce earthly pleasure so they do not celebrate Holi. But women at the shelter for widows, who have been abandoned by their families, celebrated the festival by throwing flowers and colored powder. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters) #

Hindu priest Babulal jumps out of a fire to signify the burning of the demon Holika during a ritual to mark the first day of the Holi spring festival, also known as the festival of colors, at village Phalen near the northern Indian city of Mathura on March 17. Holi in Phalen starts on the first day of the full moon where a Hindu mythological story will be re-enacted to symbolize the victory of good over evil, according to local media. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters) #

Indian widows covered in colored powder take part in Holi celebrations at an ashram in Vrindavan on March 17. Breaking centuries-old tradition, widows living in the holy city of Vrindavan celebrated the spring color festival of Holi at Meera Sahabhagini Sadan in Vrindavan. In a symbolic gesture, the widows celebrated Holi with colors and gulal unlike the previous year where they only sprinkled flower petals over each other. As per Indian tradition, widows are considered social outcasts and refrain from celebrating Holi. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images) #

Indian Hindu widows play with colored powder as a part of Holi celebrations at the Pagal Baba Ashram in Vrindavan, India, on March 15. The widows, many of whom at times have lived desperate lives in the streets of the temple town, celebrated the festival at the ashram. After their husband's deaths the women have been banished by their families to the town where devotees believe Lord Krishna was born, for supposedly bringing bad luck. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press) #

Indian men shield themselves from women beating them with wooden sticks during the annual Lathmar Holi festival in Barsana village, Mathura, India, on March 9. In Barsana, people celebrate a variation of Holi called 'Lathmar' Holi, which means beating with sticks. During the Lathmar Holi festival, the women of Barsana, the birth place of Hindu God Krishna's beloved Radha, beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Hindu God Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their efforts to put color on them. (Harish Tyagi/EPA) #

An Indian girl, face smeared with color, reacts to the camera as she squirts water on others during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Gauhati, India, on March 17. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. (Anupam Nath/Associated Press) #

A Hindu man from the village of Nangaon teases men from Barsana as they play Holi at the Ladali or Radha temple before the procession for the Lathmar Holi festival, the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana 115 kilometers (71 miles) from New Delhi, India, on March 9. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing as they depart the town. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press) #
More links and information
Holi celebrations 2013 - Big Picture post