Holi: The Hindu Festival of Colour , In late March 2013 Hindus celebrated the Holi festival of colour, a riotous celebration of the end of winter and the coming of spring. Holi, which takes place every year in February or March, is particularly enjoyed by worshippers of the Hindu god Krishna, and the general frivolity of the festival is considered to be in imitation of the deity’s playful nature. In 2013 the Holi festivities coincided with the full moon on March 27. It included the traditional one-day reversal in the usual rankings of caste, age, and status, as well as boisterous singing in the streets, public teasing and mischief between men and women, and the copious use of sprayed water and coloured powders.

On March 27, 2013, a girl in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, laughs as others rub coloured powder on …

Jagadeesh Nv—EPA/Landov

Smeared with brightly coloured powders, young men in Mumbai mug for the photographer on March 27, …

Divyakant Solaki—EPA/Landov

At the Meera Sahbhagini Ashram in Vrindabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, Hindu widows celebrate with a …

Kevin Frayer/AP Images

Village women from Barsana, Uttar Pradesh, India, use special wooden staves, or …

Manish Swarup/AP Images

In March 2013 men who have been daubed with bright colours and dressed in imitation of the Hindu …

Manish Swarup/AP Images

On March 28, 2013, the day after the official Holi festival, revelers in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, …

In addition to joining in the one-day Holi festival itself, some regions in India traditionally celebrate the occasion with their own local revelries, many of which relate to specific episodes in the story of Krishna and his beloved gopi (milkmaid) consort Radha. One of the most popular of those revelries is the Lath-mar Holi in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. During Lath-mar, men from the village of Nandgaon—the traditional hometown of Krishna—impersonate the prank-loving deity and defend themselves with leather shields as colourfully dressed women from nearby Barsana—Radha’s home village—pummel the men with long wooden staves, or lathis.