Holi, the festival of colours

Children, such as this pair from Calcutta, smear their faces with paint
Photograph: Sucheta Das/AP

The main day is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other
Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

A child rests inside tomato pulp as part of the celebrations
Photograph: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters

Indian women celebrate with music and dance in Calcutta
Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images

A Nepalese youth swims in coloured pool
Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA

Indian sadhus, Hindu holy men, smear coloured 'gullal' powder on each other's faces
Photograph: Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images

The tradition of playing with colours, as this child has done in Hyderabad, draws its roots from a legend of Radha and the Hindu God Krishna
Photograph: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images

Devotees at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan. Vrindavan is famous for Holi celebration, where according to legend, Hindu god Krishna played Holi with his consort Radha
Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

It is believed that young Krishna was jealous of Radha's fair complexion since he was himself very dark. After questioning his mother, Yashoda, on the darkness of his complexion, she teasingly asked him to colour Radha's face in whichever colour he wanted
Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

In a mischievous mood, Krishna applied colour on Radha's face. Here Pakistani Hindus cover each other with coloured powder as they celebrate Holi in Lahore
Photograph: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

Even the tourists join the celebrations in Calcutta
Photograph: Piyal Adhikary/EPA

At the end of the day, a girl washes the colour off her skin following celebrations in Hyderabad
Photograph: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters