This week Hindus around the world celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors. Holi is a springtime celebration observed on the last full moon of the lunar month. Revelers traditionally throw bright colored powders at friends and strangers alike as they celebrate the arrival of spring, commemorate Krishna's pranks, and allow each other a momentary freedom—a chance to drop their inhibitions and simply play and dance. Gathered here are images of this year's Holi festival from India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Holi 2017: The Festival of Colors
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Indian Hindu devotees are sprayed with colored water by heir to the Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple Lalji Maharaj Shri Vrajendraprasdaji Maharaj as they celebrate the Holi festival at the Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad on March 13, 2017. #
Sam Panthaky / AFP / Getty -
A student of Rabindra Bharati University, with her face smeared in colored powder, during celebrations inside the university campus in Kolkata, India, on March 9, 2017. #
Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters -
People release colored smoke as they take part in "kapda phaar" (cloth tearing) Holi, celebrations in Pushkar in the desert state of Rajasthan, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Himanshu Sharma / Reuters -
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A Hindu devotee is covered in colored powder as he stands outside a temple during the religious festival of Holi in Vrindavan, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, March 8, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
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In this Thursday, March 9, 2017, photo, an Indian widow smeared with colors celebrates Holi at the Gopinath temple, in Vrindavan, India. Up to just a few years ago, the festival was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women, they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, with their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. #
Manish Swarup / AP -