India celebrates spring with festival of colors

Bangladeshi students pose for a photograph as they celebrate the Holi Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Holi, which literally means ‘burning’, is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna and heralds the onset of spring season.   (Abir Abdullah / EPA)

Ten-month-old Pratulya attends with a relative Holi celebrations at the Indian Cultural Centre in Dar es Salaam.   (Daniel Hayduk / AFP/Getty Images)

People wearing face-paint dance during a Holi celebration at the Indian Cultural Centre in Dar es Salaam.  (Daniel Hayduk / AFP/Getty Images)

A child sleeps during Holi celebrations at the Indian Cultural Centre in Dar es Salaam.  (Daniel Hayduk / AFP/Getty Images)

Bangladeshi students throw colored powder on each other during the Holi Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Holi, which literally means ‘burning’, is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna and heralds the onset of spring season.   (Abir Abdullah / EPA)

A man smears the face of a woman with coloured powder during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Mumbai, India.   (Rajanish Kakade / AP)

An Indian girl smears colored powder on the face of another as they celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Ahmadabad, India.  (Ajit Solanki / AP)

A Hindu widow lies on a sludgy ground filled with a mixture of colored powder, water and flower petals during celebrations to mark Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, at the Meera Sahabhagini Widow Ashram in Vrindavan, India.   (Bernat Armangue / AP)

An Indian woman shuts her eyes as colored powder is smeared on her face during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Mumbai, India. Holi,  (Rajanish Kakade / AP)

Hindu men from the village of Nandgaon throw colored powder at each other before joining a procession for the Lathmar Holi festival at the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana from New Delhi, India.   (Saurabh Das / AP)

A crowd of Indian men and women crowd the courtyard of a Hindu temple during the Dadjee ka Huranga festivities in the north Indian town of Baldeo.  (Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images)

An Indian boy slides in the remnant water left after a large crowd of men and women participated in the Dadjee ka Huranga festivities in the north Indian town of Baldeo.  (Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images)