• Holi celebrations inside a school in Ahmedabad, India. Amit Dave / Reuters
    Holi celebrations inside a school in Ahmedabad, India. Amit Dave / Reuters
  • An Indian boy dressed as Lord Krishna dances along with devotees covered with coloured powder during Holi celebrations in Amritsar. Narinder Nanu / AFP Photo
    An Indian boy dressed as Lord Krishna dances along with devotees covered with coloured powder during Holi celebrations in Amritsar. Narinder Nanu / AFP Photo
  • Women offer prayers in Ahmedabad. Amit Dave / Reuters
    Women offer prayers in Ahmedabad. Amit Dave / Reuters
  • University students in Chandigarh. Ajay Verma / Reuters
    University students in Chandigarh. Ajay Verma / Reuters
  • Indian students celebrate Holi festival in Kolkata. Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP Photo
    Indian students celebrate Holi festival in Kolkata. Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP Photo
  • Holi in Ahmedabad. Amit Dave / Reuters
    Holi in Ahmedabad. Amit Dave / Reuters
  • An Indian reveller plays with coloured powder during celebrations for the Holi festival in Siliguri, West Bengal.Diptendu Dutta / AFP Photo
    An Indian reveller plays with coloured powder during celebrations for the Holi festival in Siliguri, West Bengal.Diptendu Dutta / AFP Photo
  • A girl's face is smeared with yellow powder in Allahabad. Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP Photo
    A girl's face is smeared with yellow powder in Allahabad. Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP Photo
  • Holi festival in Siliguri. Diptendu Dutta / AFP Photo
    Holi festival in Siliguri. Diptendu Dutta / AFP Photo
  • The Holi festival in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir. Jaipal Singh / EPA
    The Holi festival in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir. Jaipal Singh / EPA
  • A man smeared in colours in Kolkata. Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
    A man smeared in colours in Kolkata. Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
  • Hindu devotees walk around a bonfire during a ritual known as 'Holika Dahan' which is part of Holi festival celebrations in Ahmedabad. Amit Dave / Reuters
    Hindu devotees walk around a bonfire during a ritual known as 'Holika Dahan' which is part of Holi festival celebrations in Ahmedabad. Amit Dave / Reuters

Happy Holi! India awash with vibrant colours - in pictures


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Across India and Nepal, millions of Hindus are celebrating Holi, the joyous festival of colour, smearing one another with coloured 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.

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