Holi Festival falls March 12, with many people around India celebrating life, love and all things colorful across the country. But did you know each color used in the powder tossed by revelers has a different meaning?
Red is for festivals, weddings and life, while yellow symbolizes prosperity and trade. Meanwhile Green is for nature, fertility and happiness, and blue is a nod to Krishna's skin, peace, heaven and love.
Many of the cities are known for having a certain color theme, for example Nagpur is the Orange City because it produces a large number of oranges and Cuttack – which is famous for its silver industry – is known as the Silver City. Kolkata, home to the Black Hole prison, is … you guessed it… the Black City.
"Lathmar Holi is also popular in Barsana where women playfully reenact a Hindu folklore by beating men with sticks, so too are celebrations with children in Shantiniketan, or with the royals in Udaipur," Ashwin Jayasankar, General Manager of travel search site Wego India, explains. "The real community experience with thousands in Delhi or Mumbai are also very popular."
See the gallery for how various cities celebrate the annual occasion!