The Holi festival is a vivid, joyful Hindu celebration of spring

India knows how to do spring.

Holi, which is March 24 this year, is the annual Hindu religious festival in which people fling vivid colored powders and scented water at one another. Joy and giddiness collide in a fog of pigments.

“You can’t be unhappy at the Festival of Colors, it’s impossible,” said Caru Das, a priest at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah. “Once everyone is ridiculously colored in green, purple and red, it’s impossible to take yourself seriously.”

The celebration has spread to many corners of the world, including the U.S.

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An Indian woman’s face is smeared with colored powder during a Holi festival celebration in the Sivasagar district of northeastern Assam state.  (AFP/Getty Images)

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Members of the Nepalese ethnic Madhesi community celebrate the Holi festival in Kathmandu, Nepal.  (Narendra Shrestha / EPA)

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Hindu men from the village of Nandgaon, India, throw colored powder at each other before joining a procession for the Holi festival near New Delhi.  (Saurabh Das / Associated Press)

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Celebrants smear colored powder on the face of a girl during celebrations marking the Holi festival in Mumbai, India.  (Rajanish Kakade / Associated Press)

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Indian revelers play with colored powder during Holi celebrations in Hyderabad, India.   (Noah Seelam / AFP/Getty Images)

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Hindu men from the village of Nandgaon, India, pray at the Ladali, or Radha temple, before joining a procession for the Holi festival near New Delhi.  (Saurabh Das / Associated Press)

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A man smears the face of a woman with colored powder during celebrations marking Holi in Mumbai, India.  (Rajanish Kakade / Associated Press)

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A widow raises her hands as others throw colored powder on her during celebrations marking Holi at the Meera Sahabhagini Widow Ashram in Vrindavan, India.   (Bernat Armangue / Associated Press)

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A Hindu widow lies on ground covered by a mixture of colored powder, water and flower petals during celebrations to mark Holi at the Meera Sahabhagini Widow Ashram in Vrindavan, India.  (Bernat Armangue / Associated Press)

The Festival of Colors is rooted in ancient Hindi stories. In one, Prahlad, who worshiped the god Vishnu against his father’s wishes, survives the flames of a bonfire because of his faith. Another recounts the love story between the god Krishna and the cow-herding maiden Radha.

Whatever the reasons, the festival vibe is all about love, joy, good triumphing over evil — and the arrival of spring. “Spring itself is a metaphor for transformation, and it’s something we should do year-round … and on a daily basis,” Das said.

For Das, Holi is spiritual and can be life-changing. He organizes Holi festivals around the U.S. that feature mass color throws on the hour as well as traditional food and entertainment.

Fests are coming to Las Vegas on April 23, Oceanside on May 14 and the San Fernando Valley on May 21. Admission is modest — $5.25 to $5.50 for adults, and children are admitted free, but you must pay for your own colors.

Info: www.festivalofcolorsusa.com

On the secular side, ColorFunFest 5K races are held around the country too.

They lack the traditions (as Holi has spread around the world, it has become distant from its origins) but have plenty of colored powder to shower on runners. A race in Los Angeles takes place on April 24.

Info: www.colorfunfest5k.com

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