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<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Manish Swarup/AP ImagesPeople throw colored powder and flower pedals during Holi celebrations.</div></div></div>The arrival of spring is accompanied by festivals in many countries.In India, many people celebrate by throwing a public bonfire, exchanging foods, and throwing colored powder all over each other. Known as <a href="http://www.holifestival.org/history-of-holi.html">Holi</a>, the festival is celebrated all throughout India and is the first major Hindu festival of the year. It officially falls on the day after the full moon, which this year is March 24, but the 2016 celebrations have already begun.In addition to heralding the arrival of spring, Holi celebrates the victory of good over evil. The colored powder has deep ties to Indian legend and is a way for people to show affection towards loved ones.Here are some of the most colorful images from the Holi celebrations.

17 gorgeous photos of India's Holi festival, the most colorful party in the world

9 Irresistible snacks to spice up your Holi celebration

The mention of <keyword id="6355460" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Holi">Holi</keyword> festival gets everyone excited about playing with colours, spraying water on each other and eating lip-smacking snacks. 
 
The festival of colours, Holi, is just few days away now people are thronging markets to buy powdered colours, water guns, water balloons, sweets, etc. 
 
Holi celebrations have also begun in many parts of the country. One town which is quite famous for its Holi celebrations is Barsana in Uttar Pradesh. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/I-celebrated-Holi-at-Radha-and-Krishnas-villages-and-it-was-breathtaking/articleshow/51423879.cms">I celebrated Holi at Radha and Krishna's villages and it was breathtaking</a> 
 
What makes the celebration special here is the way it is played. Holi is marked in Barsana with women beating men with sticks, which is famously known as ‘Lathmar Holi’. 
 
These images of the Lathmar Holi perfectly describe how it is celebrated in Barsana. Take a look 
 
 
(Images: Reuters)

These
photos of Barsana’s Holi celebration will lift your spirits

Breaking a 400-year-old tradition, more than 1000 <keyword id="3294344" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="widows-in-Vrindavan">widows in Vrindavan</keyword> played <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=holi">Holi </a>inside the Lord Krishna temple yesterday. 
 Though <keyword id="3294346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="widows-playing-Holi">widows playing Holi</keyword> in<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/stunning-photos-of-holi-the-hindu-festival-of-colors/Indian-widows-throw-flowers-during-Holi-celebrations-at-the-Meera-Sahbhagini-Ashram-in-Vrindavan-/slideshow/21225752.cms"> Vrindavan</a> and Varanasi started a while back, this would be the first time, they would be celebrating the festival of colours inside the temple premises. 
 The <keyword id="6355460" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holi">Holi</keyword> celebrations was organised by Sulabh Foundation, which has been striving to bring back these <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=indian+widows">widows</a>, most of whom have been treated as outcasts by their families to society's mainstream. 
 
According to the founder of Sulabh, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, this year they had managed to convince a number of Sanskrit students and Pundits to take part in the Holi celebrations. 
 
Organisers say that it was a "riot of colour" on Monday as 1200 kgs of 'gulal' (coloured powder) and 1500 kilograms of rose and merry gold petals were arranged for the event. 
 
"The widows, who wear only white sarees, would splash colours on each other to celebrate the festival, breaking away from years of social stigma attached to women who have lost their husbands", said an organiser. 
 
Have a look! 
 
Image credit: AP/Indiatimes

In pictures: This is how widows in Vrindavan celebrated Holi

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Holi, the Hindu celebration known as the festival of colors, kicked off on March 9 with bonfire rituals representing the triumph of good over evil. </li><li>In at least two communities in India, devotees built an effigy representing the coronavirus, which they burned as part of a ritual known as "Holika Dahan."</li><li>While coronavirus fears kept some devotees at home and have decreased sales for certain vendors in India, early Holi celebrations indicate that festivities will proceed as usual tomorrow.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>

Residents in Mumbai, India, burned an effigy depicting the coronavirus as a big, blue demon during Holi celebrations

<ul><li>People are choosing to stay home this year for Holi amid fear of coronavirus.</li><li>You can still celebrate the festival by tapping into live streams and using Holi stickers on WhatsApp, Hike and other social networking platforms.</li><li>Games like Teen Patti Gold and PUBG have also added Holi-themed features.</li></ul>Amid fears of coronavirus and the tense environment created by India’s new citizenship laws, not everyone is in the mood to step out of the house to celebrate Holi, the Indian festival of colours. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind announced their plans to stay away from Holi celebrations due to the this year because of the coronavirus threat. All over the country, people are taking precautions and avoiding when it comes to mass gatherings. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to leave your house in order to celebrate Holi. Everything that makes the festival fun — like chilling with friends, splashing throwing colours at each other, and playing games — can be done online. 
	


<div type="image" title="holi2_edited" msid="74546307" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Holi celebrations in Vrindhavan&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>
 Participating in the biggest Holi celebrations across India The biggest Holi celebrations in India are hosted in Uttar Pradesh. You can tune in for what’s happening by tapping into the live stream by <a href="https://vrindavan.tv/">Vrindavan TV.</a> 
	<div type="image" title="holamohalla_edited" msid="74546400" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Hola Mohalla preparations at Anandpur Sahib&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>


 You can even catch the annual <keyword id="2751667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Warrior-Holi">Warrior Holi</keyword>, or Hola Mohalla, taking place in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOL-P5Dcks">Anandpur Sahib</a> in Punjab online. Nihangs — Sikh warriors who claim to be descendants of the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Gobind Singh — perform physical feats and participate in mock battles using real weapons. Getting everyone together One of the biggest pulls of Holi is getting to celebrate the festival with friends and family. One way to undercut the threat of coronavirus and still be in touch is to hop online and get on a video call. WhatsApp, Skype, and Google Hangouts are only some of the options on the table that allow for multiple people on a single one video call. 
	<div type="image" title="holihike" msid="74546457" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;New stickers introduced on Hike for Holi&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



 You also use social networking apps like Hike and TikTok to share the sentiment of Holi without stepping out. Both introduced new Holi-themed stickers and filters last week. On TikTok, #HappHoli2020 is currently trending. Multiplayer-gaming PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile is celebrating Holi in its own way. Players can earn items in-game by collecting gulal. The more tasks you complete, the more gulal you have in your kitty, and the more items you can redeem — including outfits, Holi-themed skin for you DP28, and a gulal trail as you jump from the plane. <div type="image" title="holipubg" msid="74546524" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Holi offers on PUBG&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

 If PUBG isn’t your cup of tea, you can always go old-school with <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/11/moonfrog-labs/">Teen Patti Gold</a> — a mobile game based on a three-card poker that’s popular in India. The developers just added a new feature that allows players to haul dye and throw paint at one another across the table while playing the game. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/coronavirus-cast-a-shadow-on-holi-traders-report-fewer-customers/articleshow/74505796.cms">Coronavirus cast a shadow on Holi, traders report fewer customers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/coronavirus-may-make-holi-colours-costlier-by-50-this-year/articleshow/74473922.cms">Coronavirus may make Holi colours costlier by 50% this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/vrindavan-will-stay-away-from-holi-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/articleshow/74505820.cms">Vrindavan will stay away from Holi amid coronavirus outbreak</a>

Holi goes online as coronavirus fears keep people at home

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=holi">Holi</a>, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=festival">festival</a> of colours is best experienced in the villages of Nandgaon and <keyword id="233947" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Barsana">Barsana</keyword>, both situated at a few distance from Vrindavan. Nandgaon is <keyword id="6356845" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Krishna">Krishna</keyword>'s village, while Barsana is where his beloved <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=radha+krishna">Radha</a> was from. 
 <keyword id="6355460" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holi">Holi</keyword> celebrations at these two villages, which start a week before the actual <keyword id="58" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Festival">festival</keyword> underline the core essence of ‘ras ka bhav’ – which means, it celebrates the element of spiritual rapture. 
 
The festival begins on asthmi with ladoo-leela at Barsana ands continues for the next two and a half days. 
 
The menfolk play Holi with women in a way which is extremely vocal about their nature of interest in them. It is not sexual in its approach but it has the rustic element of wooing and teasing. 
 Have a look at how these two villages celebrate the <keyword id="42493" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Festival-of-colours">festival of colours</keyword>. 
 
(The author, Divya Rai is a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/raidivya27">professional photographer</a> and a travel blogger. When she is not busy developing beautiful photographs, she writes a travelogue called <a href="http://aborrowedbackpack.com">A Borrowed Backpack</a>)

I celebrated Holi at Radha and Krishna's villages and it was breathtaking

<ul class="summary-list"><li>People celebrate the <keyword id="6368818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hindu">Hindu</keyword> holiday of Holi with colorful <keyword id="65546" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="powder">powder</keyword> known as gulal.</li><li>One company in Hathras, <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, makes over 6,000 tons of gulal every year.</li><li>We went inside the factory churning out powder year-round in the gulal capital of the world.</li></ul>Yellow is one of the most popular colors thrown during Holi. Called gulal, the fine powder is made from a mixture of starch and dyes.One factory in India, Radha Kishan <keyword id="22510" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="color">Color</keyword> World, produces 2,000 tons of gulal annually. It's based in the northern city of <a href="https://www.assocham.org/newsdetail.php?id=5585">Hathras</a>, where most of the world's gulal comes from. We went inside one of the largest manufacturers to see how it's preparing for its first Holi during the pandemic. Ratan Bihari Agrawal and his family are behind <a href="http://www.thecolorpowder.com/contact.htm">Radha Kishan Color World</a>, also known as the <a href="https://rbcolour.com/about.html">Cock Brand</a>."Our business is 80 years old," he told Insider. He and his family have run the company for four generations. One of the main products they produce is gulal, churning out more than 600 pounds of the powder a day. <div type="image" title="Employees prepare Holi toys before celebrations begin" height="1080" width="1440" msid="81764091" hostid="261"></div>In Hathras, Holi powder production brings in more than <a href="https://www.amarujala.com/uttar-pradesh/hathras/hathras-sanjeevani-could-not-meet-the-budget-for-traditional-industries-of-the-district-hathras-news-ali255185086">30 crore rupees</a>, or over $4 million, each year. There are over a <a href="https://www.patrika.com/hathras-news/color-gulal-of-hathras-will-be-scattered-in-nationwide-festival-holi-6699780/">dozen</a> gulal-making facilities in the city alone. The Cock Brand itself employs almost 100 people to focus on five main processes: packaging, handmade processing, controlling the command center, storage, and gulal drying in nearby fields. The company makes both handmade and machine-processed gulal to keep up with demand.<div type="image" title="Woman helping to process pink gulal powder." height="1080" width="1440" msid="81764093" hostid="261"></div>The Cock Brand works with hundreds of colors. Each popular Holi color has at least a dozen hues."Imagine life without colors. Imagine life in black and white. It is boring. Colors give you pop," said Manu Garg, Ratan's brother. "Every color tells a story. Red stands for love. Blue is for royalty. Pink [is] for caring and yellow is for happiness," he said. <div type="image" title="Starch is mixed with water during handmade processing" height="1080" width="1440" msid="81764094" hostid="261"></div>The first part of the process always starts with a starch mixture. Corn starch is the base for the color powder. It's used instead of common bases like talcum because it's less toxic and much lighter. Then, the mixture goes through a grinder before it's baked in the sunlight.While baking is an important step, the city in Uttar Pradesh is prone to rain and even monsoons, which affect when the gulal is dried. In addition, the powder production coincides with the region's farming season. And both factors play a role in how much gulal can be produced before Holi. Ratan recalls times when orders were affected by rain, sometimes losing 60% to 70% of orders.<div type="image" title="This process can take a few hours" height="1080" width="1440" msid="81764096" hostid="261"></div>To prevent loss, Ratan and Manu invested in a mechanized gulal making process. "Within seconds, it converts pure starch directly into gulal. The machine now works 24 hours a day. We only halt the machine on Sunday for greasing," he said.On top of gulal, the company makes over 260 types of gulal-dispensing toys. The Cock Brand sells most of its products straight to businesses, but many gadgets can be found at the Hathras Color Market. Open year-round, it's one of the largest Holi markets in the world.Hathras became the gulal hub due to it's proximity with the Braj region, where Holi celebrations last as long as two weeks. In the city, it's used often. "For any happy occasion, gulal is used. When a candidate wins an election, they celebrate it with gulal." Gulal is also a popular prop in Bollywood movies. "Our gulal is used to show celebration, in serials, movies and stories," Ratan said. <div type="image" title="There are hundreds of different gulal powders" height="1080" width="1440" msid="81764098" hostid="261"></div>The tradition of Holi can be traced back to several Hindu legends about Lord Krishna."When Lord Krishna and Radha Rani play Holi with each other, it shows the emotion of love and compassion," Manu said. Depending on the region, Holi can be a multiday festival or an afternoon celebration. The first evening is known as <a href="https://www.india.com/festivals-events/holi-2021-date-when-is-holi-history-and-significance-of-festival-of-colours-4428040/">Chhoti Holi</a>, or small Holi, and usually involves a symbolic bonfire. The second day is when people of all ages wear white and throw colorful powder at one another.Last year, Holi fell right before the coronavirus was officially declared a global pandemic. But this year, massive crowds of people are celebrating even as India grapples with another spike.Aligarh resident Manpreet Singh said said it was important for the people to come outside this year to celebrate Holi."People were suffocated in their houses," Singh said. "Finally, a festival has arrived, and people have exited their homes and are celebrating it."Still, cases are rising. India reported over <a href="https://www.mohfw.gov.in/">68,000</a> new coronavirus infections on March 28 - the highest single day rise so far this year - taking the nationwide tally well over <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6">11 million</a>. So far, about <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-holi-2021-states-and-uts-that-have-banned-celebrations-full-list-here-2883141">a dozen</a> Indian states and territories have banned Holi celebrations. <div type="image" title="Bright red gulal is blended" height="1080" width="1440" msid="81764100" hostid="261"></div>"COVID has impacted all the industries all over the world. Moreover, our business is a seasonal business," Manu said.Sales here declined by almost 10% last year. But the company has hopes for high returns in 2021."We hope that this pandemic ends soon and people can enjoy Holi as it is meant to be," Ratan said.

How a small company in India produces over 2,000 tons of colorful Holi powder each year

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You Searched For "Holi celebrations" and got 10 results

17 gorgeous photos of India's Holi festival, the most colorful party in the world

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These photos of Barsana’s Holi celebration will lift your spirits

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In pictures: This is how widows in Vrindavan celebrated Holi

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Residents in Mumbai, India, burned an effigy depicting the coronavirus as a big, blue demon during Holi celebrations

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Holi goes online as coronavirus fears keep people at home

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I celebrated Holi at Radha and Krishna's villages and it was breathtaking

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Residents in Mumbai, India, burned an effigy depicting the coronavirus as a big, blue demon during Holi celebrations

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