Holi 2017: Here’s how people are celebrating the festival of colours in India, Pakistan and Nepal

Eco Friendly Colourful Holi Celebrations at various areas in Thane. Express Photo by Deepak Joshi Mumbai.

Eco Friendly Colourful Holi Celebrations at various areas in Thane. Express Photo by Deepak Joshi.

Holi Celebrations in Tulip Star in Mumbai. Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty

While people smear colour on each other playfully on this festival, going the eco-friendly way is how to stay safe and healthy while having fun. Express Photo by Deepak Joshi

Children celebrate eco-friendly Holi at various areas in Thane, Mumbai. Express Photo by Deepak Joshi.

People celebrating the festival of colours in full splendour in Mumbai. Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty

Tourists throw colored powder and dance as they participate in Holi festivities at the Basantapur Durbar Square. (Source: AP)

Birds fly past as Nepalese people gather for Holi festivities at the Basantapur Durbar Square. Holi is an important festival in Nepal too.(Source: AP)

Nepalese people gather for Holi festivities at the Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu,Nepal.(Source: AP)

Holi festival marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. Pakistani youth pose for photo during the Holi celebrations in the country. (Source: AP)

Women from the Pakistani Hindu community celebrate the festival of colours with full fanfare at a temple in Lahore. (Source: AP)

Women from the Pakistani Hindu community smear each others faces with colour to celebrate Holi at a temple in Lahore, Pakistan. (Source: AP)

Devotees share fire from Holi 'bonfire' after traditional 'Holika Dahan' in Ahmedabad on eve of Holi. (Source: PTI)

Devotees perform puja rituals on Chhoti Holi, the first day of the festival in Haridwar. (Source: PTI)

Ved Pathi students smearing 'gulal' powder on each other's faces as they celebrate Holi at Narmada ved vedaan sanskrit Vidyalaya near Gwarighat in Jabalpur. (Source: PTI)

Students applying colours to the faces of police personnel during Basant Utsav on the eve of Holi in Murshidabad, West Bengal. (Source: PTI)

People of Barsana and Nandgaon at Radha Rani temple play Holi in Barsana. (Source: PTI)

Foreign tourists and Indian children play with coloured powder as they celebrate Holi, the festival of colours in Kolkata. (Source: AP)

People smeared in colours as they take part in a religious procession during Holi celebrations at Sri Durgiana Temple in Amritsar, Punjab on Chhoti Holi. (Source: PTI)

Students of Visva-Bharati University performing a dance during 'Basanta Utsav' at Santiniketan, West Bengal. (Source: PTI)

Villagers smear in colours, celebrate Holi festival at Radha Rani temple of Nandgaon, Uttar Pradesh. (Source: PTI)

Devotees playing with colours on the eve of Holi celebrations at historical Govind Dev Ji temple in Jaipur. (Source: PTI)

Spring is here and to celebrate the vibrancy and joyful hues all around, people in India play Holi, the festival of colours. Also known as Basant Utsav, is the literally the celebration of onset of spring after a long cold winter. The Hindu festival – widely celebrated in India and Nepal – has become a global phenomenon now. Observed on the full moon day (purnima) in the month of Falgun, according to the Hindu lunar calendar, the festival lasts for two days. (Source: PTI)