Festival goers in northern India used ashes from human cremations to celebrate Holi, a major Hindu holiday.

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.

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.

The strange ritual is an ancient tradition in the city and is seen as a means of celebrating death and attaining salvation.