Hundreds gather to celebrate festival of colours

Hundreds of people have gathered to celebrate the Hindu festival of colours.

GWR Park in Swindon, Wiltshire, was awash with vibrant coloured paint on Sunday to mark Holi - the celebration to mark the end of winter.

As well as the traditional throwing of paint, the event featured DJ sets and drumming, as well as food stalls.

Pradeep Bhardwaj, chairman of the Swindon Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, said the event was "the best day of the year", adding it represented "a lot more than just a religious celebration".

"The best part is all these communities coming together, celebrating in a very unique way," Bhardwaj said.

"We all love colours and the colours represent so many things - they represent diversity, vibrancy and a lot of those other good things," he added.

With a focus on the power of good over evil, Holi is seen as a celebration of love, equality and new beginnings by millions of people worldwide.

Raj Patel, a trustee of the Swindon Hindu Temple Trust, said the multicoloured paint symbolised bringing people together, adding: "It doesn't make any difference from which caste [or] colour you are, which religion, we bring people together to make them smile."

"The world is so crazy right now, so we make people happy and work together - that's the message for the world," he added.

Will Stone, MP for Swindon North, attended the event for the second year running.

"We're seeing a really troubling time across the country and the world so events like this bring people together," he said.

"It's wonderful to see people put their differences aside and just have fun," he added.

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