LolliTop: Holi 2010, the Festival of Colors (India),

Last Monday (March 1st), people in India and other countries with large Hindu populations celebrated Holi, the Festival of Colors. A welcoming of Spring, Holi is celebrated as the triumph of good over evil. Hindu devotees and others enthusiastically drop their inhibitions, and chase each other in temples and through the streets, playfully splashing colorful paint, powder and water on each other. People also attend bonfires to commemorate the story of Prahlada, a Hindu figure and devout follower of Lord Vishnu who prevailed over his father and the demoness Holika with the power of his devotion. Collected here are a handful of images from this year's Festival of Colors.

1. Children, their faces smeared with colored powder, participate in Holi festivities in Mumbai, India, Monday, March 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

2. Students smear colored powder on each other during a celebration ahead of Holi festival in Indore, India, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. (AP Photo)

3. Men smeared with facepaint and colored powder pose for a picture during Holi in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati on March 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Utpal Baruah)

4. People dance as colored water pours on them during Holi festivities in Gauhati, India, Monday, March 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

5. A woman, her face smeared with colored powder, participates in Holi festivities in Mumbai, India, Monday, March 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

6. Men daubed in colors celebrate the re-enactment of a local tradition of "Lathmar Holi", celebrated at Nandgaon village near the northern Indian city of Mathura on February 24, 2010. (REUTERS/K. K. Arora)

7. Artists dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna (left) and his consort Radha are showered with rose petals during Holi celebrations in the northern Indian city of Mathura on February 18, 2010. (REUTERS/K. K. Arora)

8. A boy with his face smeared in color smiles during the celebrations of Holi in Siliguri, India on February 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri)

9. Dye covers the foot of a Hindu devotee as others play with color during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on February 27, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

10. A woman closes her eyes as colored powder is thrown on her face during the celebrations of Holi in Chandigarh, India on February 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Ajay Verma)

12. A child rests inside tomato pulp as part of the celebration of Holi in Hyderabad, India on February 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Krishnendu Halder)

13. Hindu devotees play with color during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on March 01, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

14. Young boys playing Holi, known as Kanhas, the childhood name for the God Krishna, throw color over Hindu devotees during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on February 27, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

15. A Hindu priest throws color onto Hindu devotees during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on February 28, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

16. Children pose after covering themselves with a colored powder called abir during the celebration of Phagwa, or Holi, in the Tunapuna Hindu Primary School in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago on February 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Andrea De Silva)

17. A man, his face smeared with colored powder, swims in the Arabian Sea to remove color from his body after Holi festivities in Mumbai, India on Monday, March 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

18. A boy is covered with a colored powder called abir during the celebration of Phagwa, or Holi, in the Tunapuna Hindu Primary School in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago on February 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Andrea De Silva)

19. Priests throw color on the devotees celebrating Holi at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, India on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

20. Hindu devotees play with color during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on February 28, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

21. A man watches a procession celebrating Holi in Mathura, India on February 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Reinhard Krause)

22. Indian kids smeared with colors look on as they celebrate Holi in Calcutta, India on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Sucheta Das)

23. Girls smeared with colored powder are splashed with colored water as they celebrate Holi in the southern Indian city of Chennai on March 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Babu)

24. Indian boys smeared with colors celebrate Holi in Calcutta, India on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

25. A girl smeared with color throws colored powder as she joins in celebrations of Holi in Vrindavan, India, Sunday, Feb 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

26. Children pour colored water on each other during Holi in Allahabad, India on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

27. Hindu devotees smear each other's faces with color during Holi celebrations in the streets near to the Bankey Bihari Temple on March 01, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

28. An Indian girl reacts as others throw colored powder at her as part of Holi, in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, Feb .27, 2010. (AP Photo/Biswaranjan Rout)

29. Men and women take part in "huranga" in Dauji temple near the northern Indian city of Mathura March 2, 2010. Huranga is a game played between men and women a day after Holi, during which men drench women with liquid colors and women tear off the clothes of the men. (REUTERS/K.K. Arora)

30. A Hindu devotee stands covered in brightly-colored powder during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on March 01, 2010 in Vrindavan, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

31. Clothes hang from overhead power and telephone lines after they were torn and thrown during Holi celebrations in Allahabad, India, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

32. People smear the face of a young man with colored powder during Holi festivities in Mumbai, India, Monday, March 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)