India's colorful Holi festival
India's Festival of Colors heralds spring
ByABC News
March 2, 2018, 3:13 PM
![Students with their faces smeared in colored powder dance as they celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi, heralding Spring, at a university campus in Chandigarh, India on March 1, 2018.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/india-holi-01-rt-rc-180302_16x9_992.jpg?w=1600)
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— -- Riotous, vibrant color envelopes India when Hindus celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of spring with the annual festival of Holi. Also known as the festival of colors, it is a time to let go of certain social norms by wearing all-white clothes to dance and douse friends, family and strangers in colored powders or water of deep hues of magenta, blue, green, yellow or orange. Holi has its roots in stories from Indian mythology. Though the official date this year is March 2, different parts of the country celebrate the day before then or over several days.
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![PHOTO: Hindu men from the villages of Nandgaon and Barsana celebrate the Lathmar Holi festival at the Radha Rani temple in Barsana village, Mathura, India, Feb. 24, 2018.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/india-holi-04-sh-rc-180302_22x15_992.jpg)
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![PHOTO: Widows covered in colors dance during Holi celebrations in the town of Vrindavan in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Feb. 27, 2018.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/india-holi-05-rt-rc-180302_23x15_992.jpg)
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![PHOTO: Indian and foreign tourists take part in the "kapda phaar" or cloth tearing during Holi celebrations in Pushkar, in the Indian state of Rajasthan on March 2, 2018.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/india-holi-06-gty-rc-180302_3x2_992.jpg)
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