In pictures: India prepares for Holi
- Published
Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, will be celebrated across India on Wednesday. The festival comes at the end of the winter season and marks the beginning of spring.
Coloured powder is being sold at shops all over the country.
Plastic water guns, which will be filled with coloured water, are also much in demand.
Masks to be worn by revellers are also doing brisk business.
Early celebrations have already taken place in some parts of India. Here widows of Vrindavan, a town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, celebrate.
A boy covered in coloured powder poses for pictures with women during early celebrations in Uttar Pradesh.
People raise their hands to receive coloured holy water from a priest during celebrations in Jammu.
The festival is also a good time for businesses to promote products. Bollywood actress Hrishita Bhatt strikes a pose during a promotional event ahead of the festival.
In the temples, devotees pray and face the deity as coloured powder is thrown on them and jets of coloured water are sprayed.