These amazing photographs give a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘painting the town red’.
Hindu men and women have welcomed the beginning of spring by hurling coloured powder at one another during the annual Holi festival in India.
Celebrations start with a bonfire where people gather, sing and dance – before participants unleash a free-for-all style powder assault on anyone and everyone in the designated colour zones.
Over in the village of Nandgaon, 71 miles from New Delhi, men have kicked off the festival of colour in style – chasing people through the streets armed with their arsenal of colours.
Exuberant: Dancers are sprayed with coloured water in the village of Nandgaon, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In a Holi tradition unique to Nandgaon and Barsana villages, men sing provocative songs to gain the attention of women, who then ‘beat’ them with bamboo sticks called ‘lathis’
Shades of red: A boy daubed in coloured powder stands inside a temple during the celebration in Nandgaon
Yellow haze: Hindu devotees daubed in colours gather at the Radhe-Krishna temple to celebrate at the village of Barsana in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
High spirits: The festival is a time for Hindus to run wild in the streets as people across India celebrate the coming of spring
Some use the powder dry, throwing it around and leaving a trail of colour in their wake.
Others mix the powder with water to decorate their friends and family members, as well as people they have never met.
Anyone and everyone is fair game: rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders – with the controlled chaos occurring in the open streets, parks, outside temples and buildings.
When the colour bombing is over in Nandgoan, Hindu devotees covered head to toe in in powder pray as they arrive at the Nandagram Temple.
According to Hindu mythology, men from Barsana arrive at the temple where they are soaked in coloured water by men from Nandgaon, believed to be Lord Krishna’s village, and then beaten by the women of the village with wooden sticks as they depart the town.
The festival, which started as a chance to meet others, play, laugh and repair relationships, is now one of the biggest in the world.
In recent years it has spread among non-Hindus in many parts of south-east Asia, as well as to parts of Europe, North America and Australia.
Holi is held every year before spring on the last full moon day of the lunar month.
World of intense colour: Women pass through the narrow alleys of Barsana village as they prepare to celebrate the festival
Celebrating in the streets: Men shield themselves from women playfully beating them with bamboo sticks at Nandgaon
Calm before the storm: Indian women from Barsana village wait with a wooden sticks at the door step of their house for the arrival of villagers from Nandgaon, during the festival
Hindu men from the village of Nangaon throw coloured powder on others as they play at the Radha temple before the procession: The legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana, is 71 miles from New Delhi
Explosion of colour: Indian Hindu devotees covered in colour pray as they arrive at the Nandagram Temple famous for Lord Krishna during Holi
Greeting the spring: Men drag a boy to the ground to cover him in red coloured water at village Nandgaon in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
Clash of the sexes: Indian Hindu women from Nandgaon village beat the shield of a man from Barsana village
Songs of praise: A man covered in coloured powder sings a hymn at a temple in Nandgaon
Exquisite embroidery: The women of Nandgaon put on their best saris for the occasion which were covered in silver and gold embroidery
Dust clouds: Revellers in Nandgaon are enveloped in red powder as other villagers watch the pageant from above. The festival is a Hindu celebration of spring
Draped in garlands: A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, is seen covered with coloured powder at a temple during at Nandgaon village as he takes part in festivities
Preparations: An Indian labourer sifts coloured powder, known as gulal, to be used during the forthcoming spring festival of Holi, inside a factory at Fulbari village on the outskirts of Siliguri
Community tradition: Indian men talk in the background as women from Nandgaon village hold wooden sticks as they wait for the arrival of villagers from Barsana
Honouring tradition: A man daubed in coloured powder sings a hymn at a temple during Lathmar Holi at village Nandgaon in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
