Indians celebrate Holi, festival of colors

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festival of colors

By Wu Qiang

Holi, or festival of colors and love, is India’s merriest occasion to celebrate. This is a time for colors. Everybody put colors on their faces, red, green, yellow, blue, black, etc. You can also paint the faces of your beloved ones and friends.festival of colors
“My daughter went down to play with her friends for hours. She said proudly she won a color water war in the fight. She had colors all over her face, hands and clothes. We washed her for one hour,” said Alen Wang, a Chinese company representative living in Delhi on Friday on the WeChat.
Holi celebrations this year started Thursday night with a Holika bonfire before Holi where people gather, sing and dance next morning.
Millions of people across India on Friday enjoyed Holi in their particular ways. Some celebrate in temples, some in parks, some with friends and some on the street.
Revellers took to streets armed with sprinklers since morning. People played, chased and colored each other with dry powder and colored water, with some carrying water guns and colored water- filled balloons for their water fight.
Colors of all hues, the smell of “gulal,” a traditional sweet, and joyous spirit pervaded the streets in every city and town of the country as people celebrated with traditional fanfare and gaiety.
Revellers exchanged greetings with each other to celebrate the festival. People visited friends and relatives, besides smearing ” gulal,” color powder, on each other’s faces.
Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. The frolic and fight with colors occur everywhere.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee greeted the nation on the occasion of Holi and urged the citizens to promote Indian’s composite culture.
“Warm greetings and good wishes to all fellow citizens on the joyous occasion of Holi,” Mukherjee said in a statement. “Let us use this spring festival to spread the fame and fragrance of our composite culture far and wide.”
Holi is also the time for one to express their creativity and talents. People use social media to exchange greetings, post pictures, share funs and humors and give their best wishes.
This is the time for forgetting, forgiving and breaking all social barriers. Many foes become friends again, many quarrels are forgotten and many tears are wiped away and smiles are shining on each face on this day.
The prominent figures of India’s political parties were depicted by cartoonists as players of Holi, enjoying one day’s respite from political battle field.
In some places, Holi was a time of violent carnival. People celebrate it for days with non-stop dancing, loud singing and heavy drinking.
Police have warned drivers against drunk driving, while in some popular areas of Delhi, security was beefed up to protest women from harassment.
In the holy Hindu city of Vrindavan in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the local holi started two weeks ago with thousands of widows in this city revelling in various rituals.
In the eastern state of West Bengal, the local Holi started on Thursday according to the Bengali calendar. In the northwest state of Punjab, the Sikh devotees celebrated their own kind of Holi by thronging into the Golden Temple.
Holi, a symbol of Indian culture, is performed in 1,000 forms. It is a praise for beauty, nature and love. Enditem

Source:?Xinhua

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