Holi: The Hindu Festival of Colors
On March 18th, people in India will celebrate Holi, a joyful Hindu festival, to mark the beginning of spring and symbolize the victory of good over evil.
During the event, people throw brightly colored powder in the air and splash each other with water.
Streets everywhere become a rainbow of red, green, and yellow — each of which has meaning.
Red indicates love, green stands for nature, and yellow represents joy.
On Holi day, families gather to share traditional meals.
Holi originates from an ancient legend.
In the story, an evil king who demanded that everyone worship only him became angry at his son, Prahlad, for believing in the Hindu god Vishnu.
The king ordered the female demon Holika, who was resistant to fire, to kill the son.
But Vishnu protected Prahlad, and Holika burned to death.
Accordingly, on the day before Holi, Indian people light large fires to symbolically burn evil spirits.