Happy Holi-day! Hundreds of Indians gather to throw coloured powder at each other

Incredible photos show crowds gathering amidst a rainbow sea of ​​colors for India’s Hindu festival of Holi.

The two-day festival celebrates spring, color and love and marks the end of winter and the arrival of spring.

This year it will take place on March 7 and 8 – but extensive preparations and celebrations are already underway.

Stunning footage captured the moment when hundreds of people threw powder paint at a temple in the village of Nandgaon in Uttar Pradesh, India, creating a vision of yellow, pink and blue.

Holi explores the love of god Radna Krishna and the triumph of good over evil – as seen in the victory of god Vishnu as Narasimha Narayana over Hiranyakashipu.

Stunning footage of the moment when hundreds of people threw paint powder at a temple in Nandgaon village in Uttar Pradesh, India

The night before, a bonfire – the Holika Duhan – is lit to symbolize the victory of good over evil as people sing and dance around the flames.

The fire represents the legend of the defeat of two demonic siblings Holika – believed to have inspired the name Holi – and Hiranyakashipu.

A worker packs natural coloring powder into bags so that it is ready to use on the day of Holi

A Hindu devotee can be seen with a yellow cloud of powder paint. The bright color is often created by using turmeric

The day of Holi the next morning will often see everyone embracing color in one way or another.

Participants throw colored paint at each other and at everything in sight.

Traditionally, this includes the use of coloring powder – often perfumed, called gulal – as well as water pistols and water balloons.

The striking yellow color is often created by using the spice turmeric. The result is an iconic image of a bright and unique celebration.

Here, baskets of powdered paint are waiting to be used as part of the traditional color fight

Devotees smear with color at Shreej Temple in Barsana, Mathura district on February 27

A man can be seen hurling a cloud of pink paint powder at the others, like some diver taking cover

The rest of the festival is spent with loved ones, eating and drinking and enjoying music.

The weeks and days before are spent preparing the large amounts of paint needed, collecting the fuel for the bonfire and preparing the Holi delicacies.

The gulal must be dried and workers pile up logs, often made from cow dung, in preparation for the ritual.

A shopkeeper organizes a display of squirt guns popularly used during the Hindu Holi celebration at a store in Amritsar

Workers make garlands from sugar candies and other delicacies at a workshop in Ahmedabad

Gulal is often used as a perfumed coloring powder. Workers spend many days before drying it

The night before there is a beautiful bonfire party. Here, workers stack blocks of cow dung in front of the fire, Holika Dahan

Women with sticks wait to participate in a traditional practice during the Lathmar Holi celebrations