Monday, January 09, 2006

Visuals India





11 comments:

Breazy said...

Beautiful ! I would love to go there .

Pirate said...

So this is where the indians are from.

lime said...

stunning pics!

Logophile said...

Gorgeous

I love your India pics

S said...

The female westerner is looked upon quite often..;))

Drywall Mom said...

Love the colors. Whate are they, spices?

S said...

Holi is the time of year when roadside stalls throughout northern India bear tables covered with bags of colorful powder, called gulal -- greens and blues, yellows, reds and purples -- rows and rows of bags.



Open air piles of powder are carved by the breeze as they tempt the wind.

These are the days leading up to Holi, the exuberant festival of color. Holi falls on the full moon of the month of Phalguna. The Hindu calendar uses lunar months, and Phalguna typically runs from the latter half of February through the first half of March. The crops have been harvested, so farmers have more free time and some money to celebrate the end of winter. With Holi, this celebration is an ecstatic burst of color. In the past, the color came from flowers that blossom only during the festival. Now, however, the powder is often created artificially.

On the eve of Holi, bonfires burn at many street corners.


That's what the powder is, it's gulal, for celebrating Holi.

Bsoholic said...

Heck yeah! I'd like to take a ride atop an elephant with a huge umbrella. That looks like fun!

Fig said...

Those are such beautiful pictures!

The Village Idiot said...

Love the colors of the spices! I am keeping it to use for a palette for future work....

The Village Idiot said...

Ok not spices but gulgal...im still keeping the palette of colors!!!