MORE than 1,000 people splashed themselves with water and colour at Swindon’s Hindu Temple to celebrate the return of the Holi Festival.

This year’s festivities saw more people packed into the temple’s car park than ever before, all enjoying pakoras and pancakes from food stalls and dancing to Bollywood music from a London DJ with live music from traditional Dhol drum players.

Kusumadhar Pandey enjoyed the festival with his wife, children and neighbours. He said: “It was wonderful, they loved it, festivals are great for family and friends. We have fantastic neighbours, they introduced us to this event through social media.

“I had to change my clothes because it got so messy - it’s good to let loose and get messy sometimes. There were so many people you couldn’t see the floor, just feet, dancing to the DJ’s music, it was exciting. This was my first Holi and we will definitely be coming back next year.”

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The fun began after a morning of worship at the temple which honoured the festival’s religious significance. Then, after three hours of partying, the work to clean it all up began and several smiling families could be seen walking along Cheney Manor Road covered in paint dust.

Vishal Chhajed worked at the Streets of India pop-up food stall with its owners Gita and Vidhi. He said: “It was very intense and exhilarating with the music and the huge crowd, it really made us feel pumped up and energetic. This was our second year and we felt lucky to be invited, we had a lovely time at one of the temple’s iconic events where people forgive and forget and just be merry.”

Pradeep Bhardwaj, chair of the Hindu Temple committee, organised the event. He said: “Colours invoke a lot of emotion when people see them, they can stimulate, motivate, relax and inspire people.

“I think this is the biggest event in Swindon with a really positive, strong and important message about inclusion, it’s a lot of fun and people really look forward to it.

“It’s celebrated with everyone, people with opposing views put that to one side, fierce opponents forget their differences, and have fun together. This year was our third Holi festival at the temple and it was by far our biggest success, so it will be a big challenge next year to top it.”