Today’s Google Doodle depicts a group of dhal players – a traditional double-headed drum from south Asia – dancing around one another and throwing coloured Holi powder.
The men and women – dressed in blue, green, red and yellow – are typical of a Holi tradition where families and friends gather to rejoice, dance and feast.
Each colour carries a symbolic meaning: red signals love and fertility, yellow the healing spice tumeric, blue represents the Hindu God Krishna and green means new beginnings.
What is Holi?
Holi is a Hindu festival, also known as the “festival of colours”, marking the end of winter.
Celebrated in India, its popularity has seen it spread to other parts of the world.
Holi is now marked in Europe and North America by people from all different religions and backgrounds – and it is seen widely as a celebration of love and colours.
It lasts for a night and day, always starting on the evening of a full moon day with a ritual bonfire.
The date changes every year but it normally falls between the end of February and the Middle of March.
This year Holi began on the evening of March 1 and ends on the evening of March 2, when revellers go out into the streets dressed in white and throw coloured powder.
How is Holi celebrated?
As depicted by the Google Doodle, Holi celebrations start the night before the festival with a Holika Dahan, where people perform religious rituals in front of a bonfire while praying to be rid of their internal evil.
The rituals are said to mirror the death of Holika, the sister of demon king Hiranyakashipu and a demoness in Hindu Vedic scriptures, who was burnt to death in a fire in a triumph of good over evil.
The next morning is Rangwali Holi, the festival of colours where people will smear each other with coloured powder in a joyous celebration.
Being drenched with water is also part of the festivities, with water balloons and guns being regularly seen in the fun battles across streets and parks.
People also celebrate the day eating, drinking and gossiping.