What
better way to celebrate the end of winter than with a splash of color?
That's precisely what happens during the Hindu festival of Holi, during
which celebrants honor spring's arrival by flinging colored power and
water at one another. Here, recent photos from all over the world of one
of the planet's most visually striking festivals -- presented in, vibrant, supersize "LIFE in HD" format.

https://www.life.com/archive/newsletter/view/2591
From Wikipedia: Holi (होली), is a spring religious festival celebrated by Hindus. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka,^[1] and countries with large Indic diaspora populations, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United Kingdom, United States, Mauritius, and Fiji. In West Bengal and Orissa of India it is known as Dolyatra (Doul Jatra) (Bengali: দোলযাত্রা), or Basanta-Utsav ("spring festival")(Bengali: বসন্তোৎসব), . The most celebrated Holi is that of the Braj region, in locations connected to the Lord Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon, and Barsana. These places have become tourist destinations during the festive season of Holi, which lasts here to up to The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli Vandana in Sanskrit, also Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi,
is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at
each other. Holi celebrations at College of Engineering, Adoor Kerala
Bonfires are lit the on the eve of the festival, also known
as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad accomplished when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of god Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in South India. Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March), (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March. In 2009, Holi (Dhulandi) was on March 11 and Holika Dahan was on March 10. In 2010, Holi was on March 1 and Holika Dahan was on February 28.  In 2011, Holi was on March 20 and Holika Dahan was on March 19.
Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colourssixteen days.[2]. Lord Krishna playing Holi with Radha and other Gopis

Influence on popular culture

In the music video for their song "The Catalyst.", American rock band Linkin Park incorporated scenes of band members throwing powdered color at one another. The videos director, band turntablist Joe Hahn, identifies Holi as a direct influence on the visual style of the video.^[16] Hahn states that "The irony of making the video was that the
inspiration for the colors came from the Color Festival in India called
Holi." Mr Hahn further elaborates on the religious significance of the
colors, "People collect these pigments throughout the year to release
them in this festival as a celebration of life and tribute to Vishnu."^[16]
The holi festival was featured as a RoadBlock challenge in the popular CBS reality television show The Amazing Race 13, episode 7.
The Ke$ha music video for the song "Take It Off" features powdered colored dyes similar to those used to celebrate Holi.^[17]
On May 31, 2007, the independent film, Outsourced, premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival. The plot of the
film details the story of Todd Anderson, an American call center novelty
products salesman (Josh Hamilton) as he heads to India to train his
replacement after his entire department is outsourced to a new, much
cheaper call center in Gharapuri, India. Todd soon discovers that in
order to successfully train his new charges, he must first learn about
the culture of the workers. Among the many customs and traditions Todd
encounters in his education of India is the celebration of Holi. The
film beautifully captures the spirit of joy and playfulness that
surrounds this colorful celebration of life and the onset of Spring.^[18] The March 17th, 2011 episode of the NBC series based on the film of the same name, Outsourced, entitled "Todd's ", takes a more sitcom-oriented approach to the holiday, marking Holi's first appearance on American network television