NEW DELHI: Holi, India’s joyful and colourful 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 yesterday turned into a large playground where people of all faiths threw coloured powder and water at each other.
Children are free to toss water balloons at passers-by.
The celebration begins the night before Holi, when large bonfires are lit, to mark the victory of good over evil.
Then it’s time for the fun with colours to begin. The cautious may smear themselves with mustard oil or Vaseline so the colours don’t damage their skin too much.
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.--AP