No country is as colourful in its traditions as India - from the lavish sets of Bollywood and the rich spectrums of their cuisine to the lush pigmentation of silk saris and religious icons.
So to celebrate the spring - the time of year when dark, bleak winter fades and flowers bloom into a thousand shimmering shades - they really have to pull out all the stops.
Thousands of Hindus came from across India to the small village of Nandgaon, near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, to celebrate the Lathmar Holi Festival Friday.
Vibrant: People throw coloured powder as they celebrate Lathmar Holi at Nandgaon village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh yesterday
Ecstatic: Participants quaff cold drinks laced with bhang - a paste made from cannabis - as the run around the town playing and making merry
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Burst of colour: A Hindu worshipper throws a bucket of colored water on others during Lathmar Holi at Nandagram Temple in Nandgaon Friday |
A prelude to the major national Holi spring festival - known as the Festival of Colours - it sees participants shower each other with brightly coloured dyes and millions of flower petals.
According to legend, Lord Krishna visited his principle consort and childhood friend, Radha, in the village on this day and playfully teased her and her friends. The women responded by chasing him away with sticks.
In the festival men in traditional dress take on the role of gops (friends of Krishna), while women play gopis (friends of Radha).
The men sing provocative songs and throw the coloured powders and flowers on the women, who fight back by pretending to beat them with bamboo.
Indian Hindu women from Nandgaon village beat the shield of a man from Barsana during Lathmar Holi in Nandgaon
Holy: The ritual fighting remembers the legend of Lord Krishna, who was chased away from the village by his lover Radha and her friends after teasing them
Devotional: Hindu worshippers covered in various colored powders sing prayers during Lathmar Holi at Nandagram Temple, in Nandgaon
It is claimed that the Hindu deity Krishna, who was dark in colour, was jealous of the fair-coloured Radha. He pestered his foster mother Yasodha about it so much that, fed up, she told him he could change Radha's skin by sprinkling her with colours.
Krishna and his shepherd friends visited Radha and her cowherd girls on this day and teased her by throwing colours at her. She and the girls responded by chasing them away with the sticks, called lathis.
In the Lathmar Holi festival, the men from Nandgaon first come to the neighbouring village of Barsana to play Holi with the women there. On the second day, men from Barsana travel to Nandgaon to play the game with their women.
Fun: Young men smeared in various colours joyfully celebrate the festival, which heralds the start of spring
Tiring: Some of the village's older men take a rest from the action
During breaks from the action, those taking part sip an a cold drink called thandai, intoxicating because it is laced with bhang paste, which is made from cannabis, known to Indians as 'ganja'.
After quaffing the bhang, the participants laugh, cry and crave sweets, the ecstatic experience heightened by the theatrical revelry of the festivities.
The women of both villages begin preparing a month in advance, with mother-in-laws feeding their daughters-in-law rich food so that they show off their prowess on the Holi battle zone.
It is a show of love, fun and equality, one, its participants believe, that even the gods descend to witness.
Daily Mail
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