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  • A girl's face is smeared in color as she celebrates...

    A girl's face is smeared in color as she celebrates Holi in Mumbai, India, Friday, March. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

  • A girl's face is smeared in color as she celebrates...

    A girl's face is smeared in color as she celebrates Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Mumbai, India, Friday, March. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

  • In this Thursday, March 1, 2018, file photo, Locals smear...

    In this Thursday, March 1, 2018, file photo, Locals smear colors on a girl's face as they celebrate "Holi," in Allahabad, India. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

  • In this Feb. 28, 2018 photo, locals light up a...

    In this Feb. 28, 2018 photo, locals light up a color smoke candle as a procession of Hindu's lord Krishna's chariot moves through a street during Holi in Kolkata, India. (AP Photo/Bikas Das, File)

  • A girl reacts as colored powder is thrown at her...

    A girl reacts as colored powder is thrown at her during celebration of Holi in Mumbai, India, Friday, March. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

  • A man's face is smeared with color by another during...

    A man's face is smeared with color by another during festivities for Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Mumbai, India, Friday, March. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

  • An Indian woman's face is smeared with color by others...

    An Indian woman's face is smeared with color by others during celebrations to mark Holi, the Hindu festival of colors in Allahabad, India, Friday, March 2, 2018. The festival, a celebration of warm weather, good harvests and the defeat of evil, brings out millions of people, from toddlers to the elderly, to throw powder at one another and play with water balloons and squirt guns. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

  • Locals throw colored powder on each other during Holi festival...

    Locals throw colored powder on each other during Holi festival celebrations in Hyderabad, India, Friday, March 2, 2018. (AP Photo /Mahesh Kumar A.)

  • Indian revelers, faces smeared with colored powder, dance during celebrations...

    Indian revelers, faces smeared with colored powder, dance during celebrations to mark Holi, the Hindu festival of colors in Allahabad, India, Friday, March 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

  • An Indian man, wearing yellow, throws flowers on devotees as...

    An Indian man, wearing yellow, throws flowers on devotees as others throw colored powder during Holi festival celebration at Lord Jagannath Hindu temple in Ahmadabad, India, Friday, March 2, 2018. The festival, a celebration of warm weather, good harvests and the defeat of evil, brings out millions of people, from toddlers to the elderly, to throw powder at one another and play with water balloons and squirt guns. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

  • A man throws flowers out to devotees during Holi festival...

    A man throws flowers out to devotees during Holi festival celebration at the Lord Jagannath temple in Ahmadabad, India, Friday, March 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

  • In this Thursday, March 1, 2018, file photo, locals dance...

    In this Thursday, March 1, 2018, file photo, locals dance around a bonfire during Holi festival celebrations in Allahabad, India. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

  • Hindu devotees dance amid colored powder and flowers thrown on...

    Hindu devotees dance amid colored powder and flowers thrown on them during Holi festival celebration at the Lord Jagannath temple in Ahmadabad, India, Friday, March 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

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Winter ends, spring arrives and the colors come out.

Across India and Nepal, millions of Hindus are celebrating Holi, the joyous festival of color, smearing one another with colored powder and spraying each other with squirt guns.

The two-day festival of Holi is mainly celebrated on Friday this year, but has countless variants and traditions, and some festivals began days ago. By Thursday afternoon, it was easy to find office workers in central New Delhi with their faces smeared red and yellow.

While its roots are religious, tied in many ways to the god Krishna, Holi is also seen as a celebration of good versus evil, and of a good harvest.