AP Photos: Women with sticks perform Indian festival ritual

Hundreds of women in two north Indian towns celebrated "Holi,” the Hindu festival of colors, by playfully hitting men with wooden sticks in response to their teasing as part of a ritual.

After two years of subdued revelry due to COVID-19, the Holi celebrations that began last week recreated the legend of the Hindu god Krishna spraying his consort Radha and her friends with red, yellow, green and saffron colors. The women were from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, and the men were from Barsana, the legendary hometown of Radha.

The men wore turbans and held shields above their heads to protect themselves from the women's hits in the mock battle.

The devotees, smeared in colored powder, then prayed at the Nandagram Temple near where Hindus believe the god Krishna and his brother Balram spent their childhood. The temple was built at the beginning of the 19th century.

They exchanged sweets and drinks as part of the celebrations.

Some men were caught by women and made to dress like...