Festival goers in northern India used ashes from human cremations to celebrate Holi, a major Hindu holiday. <br /><br />Hundreds of local people from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, gathered on March 6 by the Manikarnika Ghat, a site sometimes used for Hindu cremations, to throw ashes mixed with coloured dust at each other in a festival game. <br /><br />Traditionally, the festivity begins at the noon and continues till evening. After performing religious rituals, the people dance and perform music at the makeshift stage amid the burning pyres.<br /><br />The strange ritual is an ancient tradition in the city and is seen as a means of celebrating death and attaining salvation.
