About 1,000 widows living in the holy Indian city of Vrindavan have in recent years celebrated Holi, breaking from a tradition in which they were considered social outcasts, and unfit to take part in the spring festival. Photographer Chandan Khanna pictured the women this year before and after the fun
Use the sliders to see before and after images of them being covered in paint, coloured powder and dye in celebration
by Chandan Khanna / AFP / Getty Images
Spring is no spring in India if it isn’t heralded by a nationwide burst of colours. And today (March 02) is that day.
Vast swathes of the country are celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi, marking the end of winter. Millions swarming into public spaces, splashing and smearing powders of myriad hues on each other and everyone else—not sparing even complete strangers.
In the run up to Holi, vendors start stocking a range oranges, blues, reds, and greens while families prepare traditional delicacies like gujia, a sweet fried dumpling made with semolina.
Here’s a selection of photos of Holi preparations and celebrations across India this year:
Colour vendors in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on Feb. 27. (EPA-EFE/Sanjeev Gupta)
Widows celebrating Holi in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. Many Hindu widows are usually forced to live ascetic lives, but over the past few years, women, particularly in this town, have been breaking this centuries-old tradition. (EPA-EFE/Harish Tyagi)
Widows dancing in Vrindavan. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)
Celebrations inside a temple in Nandgaon, Uttar Pradesh. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)
Inside a Nandgaon temple. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)
Colour powder vendors in Guwahati, Assam. (Reuters/Anuwar Hazarika)
Holi revellers in Kolkata, West Bengal. (AP Photo/Bikas D)
A woman joins a chariot procession of Lord Krishna in Kolkata as part o the festivities. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
A tourist takes in the colours of Holi in Kolkata. (EPA-EFE/Piyal Adhikary)
College girls in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. (EPA-EFE/Sanjeev Gupta)
College students in Jammu. (EPA-EFE/Jaipal Singh)
A student of Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, West Bengal. (Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri)
Indian women sexually harassed at Delhi's Holi festival
Updated
Holi is meant to be a Hindu festival celebrating the start of spring, but in Delhi it's being used as an excuse for men to harass and sexually assault women in public places.
Traditionally, people throw brightly coloured powder and water balloons at each other on the streets as part of festivities.
But Delhi women have reported being struck with balloons filled with semen and urine.
The head of the city's Commission for Women has described the behaviour as "shocking and shameful", and called for extra police teams to be deployed to protect women during the festival.
"The men seem to get some perverted pleasure from further exacerbating the already-constant apprehension and helplessness women feel on the streets of Delhi," said Suramya Srivastava, a first-year economics student at a Delhi women's college.
For many women in Delhi, their only choice and the frequent advice is to avoid going outside during the multi-day festival.
But women and girls who have to get to work or school, have no choice but to brave the streets.
"It is always the women, the victims at the end of such harassment cases, who are told to take more precautions to be safer," Ms Srivastava said.
Women have posted on social media of the revolting ways in which they're humiliated by men pelting balloons at them.
They say the balloons are often flung from men riding motorbikes and aimed at their breasts, hips or genitals.
"When we are subjected to such scary situations, instead of enjoying the festival, we get the feeling of insecurity," Delhi student Suchandana Patoa said on Facebook.
'A day of dread'
Women's rights activists are furious.
"Holi has become a day of dread — when the streets are taken over by violent, power-drunk men who see the festival as a licence for sexual harassment," said Kavita Krishnan, who works at the All India Progressive Women's association.
The head of Delhi's Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal, said Holi was meant to be a beautiful festival.
"However, the public nature of the festival provides room for miscreants to take advantage of women and girls and harass them," she said.
She's called for more police to be stationed around Delhi to prevent crimes against women during the festival.
Women have taken to social media to express their fear and disgust, and female university students have organised protests to call for more protection and less hooliganism.
New Delhi earned the unfortunate title of "rape capital of the world" after the 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a public bus.
She died of her injuries.
Sexual violence against women is a common theme in a country where marital rape is not a crime, and where the National Crime Records Bureau has reported an increase in sexual crime against women over several years.
A study published in the International Criminal Justice Review in 2016 found nearly 58 per cent of women interviewed had experienced sexual harassment in a one-year period, with 42 per cent reporting harassment in public places.
Topics: sexual-offences, hinduism, women, india
First posted
New Delhi (CNN) It's the bold image of India most often seen in ad campaigns, films and music videos.
People coming together from all walks of life to sing, dance and splash their friends and family with colored powder and water.
Brands such as Sony and Canon have used the vibrant festival to showcase their products.
British Airways recently joined in the fun with cabin crew members celebrating in cities across India.
Even Chris Martin of the band Coldplay, though he irked some in the process , got involved in Holi traditions in the music video for "Hymn for the Weekend."
But what is Holi and why do Indians celebrate it?
Hindu devotees play with color during Holi celebrations at the Banke Bihari temple on March 27, 2013 in Vrindavan, India.
The beginning of Spring
Holi is a Hindu festival that marks the start of Spring.
Celebrated across India, it's an ancient festival with the first mentions of it dating all the way back to a 4th century poem.
It was even described in detail in a 7th century Sanskrit play called "Ratnavali," written by the Indian emperor Harsha.
"Witness the beauty of the great cupid festival which excites curiosity as the townsfolk are dancing at the touch of brownish water thrown ... Everything is colored yellowish red and rendered dusty by the heaps of scented powder blown all over," wrote Harsh.
Indian students smear colored powder during an event to celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi in Kolkata on February 26, 2018.
How it looks today
Although a Hindu festival, Holi is celebrated by Indians across the country and is a great equalizer.
Children can douse elders with water, women splash men with color and the rules of caste and creed are briefly forgotten with everyone taking part.
The evenings are spent visiting friends and family.
A national holiday, it takes place on the last full moon day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month, which is usually March.
This year's national holiday falls on Friday, March 2.
The festival takes place a day earlier in the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha. In some parts of northern Uttar Pradesh state, the festivities take place over a week.
An Indian artist dressed as Hindu god Lord Shiva takes part in a procession ahead of the Holi festival in Amritsar on February 26, 2018.
Mythological roots
The roots of the festival lie in the Hindu legend of Holika, a female demon, and the sister of the demon, King Hiranyakashayap.
Hiranyakashayap believed he was the ruler of the universe and superior to all the gods.
But his son, Prahlad, followed the god Vishnu, the preserver and protector of the universe.
Prahlad's decision to turn his back on his father left Hiranyakashayap with no choice. He hatched a plot with Holika to kill him.
It was a seemingly foolproof plan; Holika would take Prahlad onto her lap and straight into a bonfire. Holika would survive because she had an enchanted shawl that would protect her from the flames.
But the plan failed. Prahlad was saved by Vishnu and it was Holika who died as she was only immune to fire if she was alone. Soon after, Vishnu killed Hiranyakashayap and Prahlad became king.
The moral of the story is that good always triumphs over evil.
Indian Hindu devotees throw colored powder during celebration of Holi Festival at Sriji temple in Barsana in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on February 23, 2018.
The love story behind Holi
In modern day Holi celebrations, Holika's cremation is often reenacted by lighting bonfires on the night before Holi, known as Holika Dahan.
Some Hindus collect the ashes and smear them on their bodies as an act of purification
Rangwali Holi takes place the next day and is an all-day affair where people throw and smear colored powder on each other.
Indian college girls throw colored powder to one another during Holi festival celebrations in Bhopal on February 28, 2018.
The tradition of throwing colored powder and water is believed to originate from the mythological love story of Radha and Krishna.
Krishna, the Hindu god depicted with dark blue skin, is believed to have complained to his mother about Radha's fair complexion.
To ease her son's sadness, his mother suggests he Radha's skin color by smearing her with paint. It's believed that this is where the custom of smearing loved ones with color during Holi came from.
