Holi celebrations around the world (2011)

Researchers and lab assistants sort through petals of the Palash flower (Butea frondosa or 'Flame of the Forest') to prepare 'abir' (coloured dust) at the chemical engineering department of Jadavpur University in Kolkata, West Bengal, on March 12, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Nepalese devotees carry the ceremonial bamboo pole know as a 'Chir' fringed with strips of cloth and representing good luck charms on the first day of Holi at the Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu on March 13, 2011. (AFP Photo)

A Nepalese devotee throws coloured powder at the ceremonial bamboo pole called a 'Chir', which is fringed with strips of cloth and represents good luck charms, on the first day of Holi at the Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu on March 13, 2011. (AFP Photo)

A Nepalese reveller is tossed into the air during celebrations of the Holi festival in Kathmandu on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Nepalese revellers daub coloured powder during Holi celebrations in Kathmandu on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Nepalese revellers with painted faces cheer on during Holi celebrations in Kathmandu on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

A young Nepalese reveller dances under a shower of coloured water during Holi celebrations in Kathmandu on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Revellers celebrate the Indian festival of Holi on the deck of the ship Peking at South Street Seaport in Manhattan March 19, 2011, in New York City. Many of the New York participants are Indian-American. (AFP Photo)

Pakistani Hindus daub coloured powder on each other's faces as they celebrate Holi at the Swami Narain Temple in Karachi on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Pakistani Hindu children celebrate Holi at the Swami Narain Temple in Karachi on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Pakistani Hindu children throw coloured pwder as they celebrate the festival of Holi at the Swami Narain Temple in Karachi on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

People play Holi at Radha Sriji temple before the start of the traditional Latthmaar Holi at Barsana in Mathura on Monday evening. (PTI Photo)

Children play Holi with bamboo-made pichkaris at a village on the outskirts of Ranchi on Tuesday. (PTI Photo)

Indian revellers throw coloured powder as they celebrate Vasantotsav, the Festival of Spring, in the West Bengal city of Siliguri on March 19, 2011. Vasantotsav is called Holi in the rest of the India. (AFP Photo)

People throng the Nand Bhawan temple to celebrate Latthmar Holi at the Nandgaon village near Mathura on Tuesday evening. (PTI Photo)

Indian heir to the Swaminarayan Temple, Lalji Maharaj Shri Vrajendraprasdaji Maharaj (top right) celebrates Holi with devotees at the Swaminarayan Temple in Kalupur, Ahmedabad, in Gujarat on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Students of the Rabindrabharati University dance during Basant Utsav (Holi) celebrations in Kolkata on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

Indian revellers daub coloured powder on each other's faces as they celebrate Vasantotsav in the West Bengal city of Siliguri on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

Students celebrate Holi at their university hostel in Gorakhpur on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

Artists carry pots with lighted lamps on their heads to perform the Charkula dance during the Latthmar Holi festival at the Sri Krishna Janamsthan temple in Mathura on Wednesday evening. (PTI Photo)

Students celebrate Holi in a school in Bikaner on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

Children play Holi with a poster of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in Patna on Thursday and wish good luck to Team India for the World Cup. (PTI Photo)

Physically challenged children of the Jivan Jyoti school celebrate Holi in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

Bollywood actress Yana Gupta celebrating Holi with children in Mumbai on Friday. (PTI Photo)

A vendor sells colour powder during Holi in Guwahati on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Girls play Holi at their college campus in Patna on Friday. (PTI Photo)

BSF soldiers and school children dance as they play Holi at the India-Pakistan international border RS Pura about 25 kms from Jammu on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Muslim children playing Holi at Varanasi on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Lok Sabha member Jaya Prada playing Holi with other MPs at the Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday during the ongoing Budget session. (PTI Photo)

A little girl smears colours at a poster of Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on the eve of Vasant Utsav, in South Dinajpur, West Bengal, on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Special school children play Holi in Thane on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Students of the Patna Women's College perform a Holi enactment of Lord Krishna with the Gopikas on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Children dressed up as lord Krishna and Radha during Holi celebrations in Mathura on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Bihar legislative members play Holi at the assembly in Patna on Friday. (PTI Photo)

BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya, City Police Commissioner AK Khan (left) and CPI State secretary K Narayana during a Holi celebration in Hyderabad on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

People shower flower petals on BJP leader Sushma Swaraj during a Sadbhawana Diwas Samaroh organised on the occasion of Holi in New Delhi on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

BJP MLA Kanwar Singh offers abir to a Muslim during a Sadbhawana Diwas Samaroh organised on the occasion of Holi in New Delhi on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Rajasthani artists perform during a Holi function in Ahmedabad on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Women celebrating Holi in Amritsar on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Women perform Holika rituals on the occasion of Holi in Gurgaon on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Tribal students form a pyramid to break a handi during Holi celebrations in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Children, wearing masks of Indian cricketers, play Holi in Thane, Mumbai on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Foreign tourists celebrating Holi during the famous annual Elephant festival at the Rambagh Polo Ground in Jaipur on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Indian students smear each other's faces with coloured powder during Holi festivities in Allahabad on Friday, March 18, 2011. (AP Photo)

Children smear coloured powder on each other during Holi festivities Guwahati on Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo)

Raja Ali, 12, leans on his crutches and sprays coloured water towards passing vehicles as he celebrates Holi in Guwahati on Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo)

A woman with her face smeared with coloured powder smiles during festivities marking Holi in Kolkata on Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo)

A girl smiles during Holi celebrations in Kolkata on Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo)

Indian women play with colored powder during Holi festivities in Kolkata on Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee coloured by powder while celebrating Holi at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, about 140 kilometers from New Delhi on Friday, March 18, 2011.

Vrindavan is famous for Holi celebrations, where according to legend, the Hindu god Krishna played Holi with his consort Radha. (AP Photo)

Indian Hindu devotees throw colours as they pray during Holi celebrations at Lord Krishna's Bankey Bihari Temple in Vrindavan some 140kms from New Delhi on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

A Hindu devotee prostrates himself during Holi celebrations at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, about 140 kilometers from New Delhi on Friday, March 18, 2011. (AP Photo)

Madhya Pradesh Minister for Urban Development & Administration Babulal Gaur with artists from Vrindavan at a cultural presentation programme of Brij Ki Holi in Bhopal on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Indian Hindu devotees are smeared with colours as they pray during Holi celebrations at Lord Krishna's Bankey Bihari Temple in Vrindavan some 140kms from New Delhi on March 19, 2011. (AFP Photo)

A man playfully holds the beard of a Hindu sadhu, or holy man, with his face smeared with colored powder during Holi festivities in Allahabad on Friday, March 18, 2011. (AP Photo)

An Indian vendor arranges coloured powder at his shop ahead of Holi in Hyderabad on Friday, March 18, 2011. (AP Photo)

An Indian wayside vendor waits for customers ahead of Holi in Allahabad on Friday, March 18, 2011. (AP Photo)