Feature: Kaleidoscopic faces, smiles abound as Hindus celebrate Holi across India

With faces, bodies and clothes awash with a kaleidoscopic spectrum of smudged vermillion, gold, viridescent, rose and azure, throngs of people of all ages and genders on Thursday greeted each other excitedly all across the Indian capital of New Delhi to usher in Holi.

The Holi period, also known as the festival of colors, is celebrated by Hindus across India with great enthusiasm and religious fervor.

Both young and old gathering outside their houses were seen splashing and smearing colors on each other and exchanging laughs and pleasantries.

The teenagers, drenched in a kaleidoscope of water colors, walked along roads and streets throwing vibrant colors at each other and bombarding their friends and strangers alike with balloons full of colored water.

Holi is an ancient Indian festival, which marks the end of winter and the beginning of the spring season.

The festival is celebrated by smearing colors and splashing colored water on one's family members friends and strangers.

"It's a time to forget the worries and indulge in merrymaking," Rajesh Joshi, a resident at a defense colony, told Xinhua. "The underlying motive of the festival is that we should strengthen our bonds and help each other to cheer up."

The major celebrations takes place in Mathura city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the birth place of the Hindu god Krishna.

Celebrations start 40 days ahead of the main Holi in the city and festivities at Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana attract tourists from across the globe, eager to view and sometime join in the colorful merrymaking.

In the western state of Rajasthan, a unique celebration is organized in Jaipur city, where elephants groomed and dressed with dazzling embroidered velvet rugs and opulent ornaments are paraded around.

At several places in Lajpat Nagar, people dressed in brand-spanking new clothes were seen applying color to each other and offering sweets, while color-smudged families in community parks danced to the beat of drums and songs of famous Bollywood (Hindi film) music.

Many people were taking "selfies" with their mobile phones and capturing the colorful moments during the celebration to be remembered digitally forever.

Holi is celebrated by Hindus every year in India and the occasion is a public holiday in most Indian states.

Originally known as Holika, historians say the festival was introduced in India by Aryans, and while the festival is mostly popular with young and older children these days, who begin the colorful celebrations several days ahead of the main festival, on the eve of Holi, elderly people join in too.

Social networking websites were abuzz with the Holi greetings and colorful pictures of the festivities, and to coincide with Holi, Google released a new doodle on its homepage to celebrate the ancient Indian festival. The doodle features the ubiquitous Google logo having each of its letters individually splashed in a multitude of vibrant colors.

India's state-run broadcaster, All India Radio (AIR), said the festival of colors symbolizes the victory of good over evil and remains the most vibrant of all.

The Indian President, Vice President and Prime Minister greeted Indians on the occasion of Holi.

"The festival symbolizes the vibrant colors of a diverse multicultural society and the spirit of tolerance and harmony that has been the essence of Indian culture and civilization," read the message from Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. Endit