Since there are many Indophiles on this list, I thought that you may enjoy seeing my photos of the Holi festival in Banaras [1], one of the holiest Indian cities. Holi [2] is the festival of colors and is a Hindu spring festival. Till 12 noon on the festival day, shops were shut and streets were full of men (it was almost all men) throwing colored water on each other and smearing each other with gulal. I found that people from both the Hindu and Muslim communities participated with equal gusto and most of those I met were extremely warm and friendly. I had always heard that Holi in Banaras is something to be witnessed and I was happy to have a chance to see it (and photograph it) for myself.
The photos are up at www.flickr.com/photos/venky7 I hope you enjoy them! Venky [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaras [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
