Mar 17, 2014

Break out the colored powder: Holi, the annual festival of colors celebrated in India and Nepal, took place Monday to mark the start of spring. In India, crowds splashed powder known as gulal, and water on each other to celebrate the holiday.

: A man reacts to colored water being splashed over him during Holi celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai, March 17, 2014. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India. (Babu/Reuters)

: Indian revelers cover each other with colored powder and dance while taking part in Holi festival celebrations in Guwahati on March 17, 2014. 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)

: Indian revelers play with colored powder during Holi celebrations in Hyderabad on March 17, 2014. Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month. (Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images)

: The hand of an Indian laborer is covered in colors as it rests on a table during celebrations for Holi, the Festival of Colors in the old quarters of New Delhi on March 17, 2014. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images)

: Indian revelers painted in metallic paints pose for a photograph during Holi festival celebrations in Siliguri on March 17, 2014. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images)

: Indian revelers covered in colored powder dance during Holi festival celebrations in Allahabad on March 17, 2014. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)

: 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, March 17, 2014. 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)

: A widow throws colored powder into the air during Holi celebrations organised by non-governmental organization Sulabh International at a widows’ ashram in Vrindavan in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh March 17, 2014. 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. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

: Indian children covered in colored powder spray colored water during Holi festival celebrations in Allahabad on March 17, 2014. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)

: A Hindu woman prays while lying on the floor of a temple during Holi celebrations in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, March 17, 2014. (Amit Dave/Reuters)

: Indian widows throw colored powder and flower petals as they dance during Holi celebrations at an ashram in Vrindavan on March 17, 2014. 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. As per Indian tradition, widows are considered social outcasts and refrain from celebrating Holi. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

: Widows dance as they throw flowers into the air during Holi celebrations organized by non-governmental organisation Sulabh International at a widows’ ashram in Vrindavan in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, March 17, 2014. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

: Indian widows throw colored powder and flower petals as they take part in Holi celebrations at an ashram in Vrindavan on March 17, 2014. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

: Hindu devotees raise their hands to receive colored holy water from a priest (unseen) outside a temple during Holi celebrations in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, March 17, 2014. (Amit Dave/Reuters)

: A girl sits on her father’s shoulders and cheers as she and others daubed in colors dance while celebrating Holi in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati, March 17, 2014. (Utpal Baruah/Reuters)

: A man takes part in Holi celebrations organized by members of South Korea’s Indian community at Haeundae beach in the southeastern city of Busan on March 16, 2014. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

: An Indian schoolchild dressed as the Hindu god Krishna and adorned with colored powder stands among other students during celebrations for the spring festival Holi in Bhubaneswar on March 16, 2014. (Asit Kumar/AFP/Getty Images)

Holi, India’s festival of colors

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