Mangalore: Mangalore celebrated Holi, the festival of colors on March 8 Thursday.
Heralding the coming of spring and marking the legend of triumph of good over evil, Holi this year in the city witnessed special enthusiasm among people of all categories alike.
The festival was initially celebrated to spread the joy of harvesting. According to mythology, Holi is named after Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, who could burn anybody to flames just by embracing her.
Families played Holi coming out of their houses, splashing buckets of water on each other to whoops of joy, and screams from the unsuspecting victims as the cold water caught them unawares.
Earlier, people used Tesu, Palash, Margosa, Henna, Turmeric, Kumkum, and Bilva leaves to make colored powders but now lot of synthetic powders are available in the markets which contain toxic substances such as engine oil, copper sulphate, lead oxide, and others.