洒红节期间售卖的五彩粉末 Multicolored powders for sale during Holi (© Nuno Valadas/Getty Images)

洒红节期间售卖的五彩粉末 Multicolored powders for sale during Holi (© Nuno Valadas/Getty Images)

五彩缤纷的节日 A holiday as colorful as the season

Holi festival

The ancient Hindu festival of Holi will find revelers caked in these colorful powders by the day's end. Also referred to as the Festival of Spring, the Festival of Love, and the Festival of Colors, Holi symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and celebrates the beginning of spring, the end of winter, and the blossoming of love in all forms. It's a time for affirming friendships, burying old grievances, and letting romance bloom.

But the real fun of Holi is the audience-participation portion, for which the holiday is most famous. Celebrants sprinkle and smear one another with brightly colored powders, typically made by coloring rice flour or corn starch with food dye. Water is tossed into the mix by way of water guns and water balloons and the resulting scene is of other-worldly, kaleidoscopic revelry.

Although chiefly celebrated in India, Holi has spread around the world, along with the Indian diaspora. In a festival marked by singing, dancing, eating, frolicking, and non-stop merriment, it's easy to see why word spread quickly.

胡里节

古印度的胡里节将在这一天结束时发现狂欢者在这些五颜六色的粉末中结块。胡里节也被称为春节、爱情节和色彩节，象征着善恶的胜利，庆祝春天的开始、冬天的结束和各种形式的爱情的绽放。这是一个肯定友谊、埋葬旧怨、让浪漫绽放的时刻。

但胡里节真正的乐趣在于观众参与部分，因为这个节日最有名。庆祝者互相洒上颜色鲜艳的粉末，通常是用食用染料给米粉或玉米淀粉着色。水通过水枪和水气球被扔进混合物中，由此产生的场景是另一种世俗的、万花筒式的狂欢。

尽管胡里节主要在印度庆祝，但它已经与印度侨民一起传播到世界各地。在一个以唱歌、跳舞、吃饭、嬉戏和不间断的欢乐为标志的节日里，很容易理解为什么这个词传播得很快。