Holi is celebrated this year on March 12 and 13, and people in Nepal, India, and Pakistan embrace the opportunity to paint one another with a brilliant palette of powdered colors and throw water balloons on unsuspecting passersby! The festival, also known as Phagu Purnima in Nepal, has a number of different legends associated with it: that of Holika and Prahlad, the son of Hiranyakshyap who was saved from a fiery death through his devotion to Lord Vishnu (a reaffirmation of the power of Good over Evil), Lord Krishna’s delight in playing pranks and painting color on Radha and the other gopis (milkmaids), and the death of Pootana, an ogress who tried to kill the infant Krishna with poisoned milk, among others.
Holi also celebrates the start of Spring and new beginnings, fresh colors and sunny days. 
