The Hindu festival Maha Shivratri is celebrated anually in reverence of Lord Shiva. Here are some of the many colorful face paintings that accompanied the celebrations. More fascinating photos of people and the festivities can be found in searches for all the different names of Maha Shivaratri, including padmarajarathri, Maha Sivaratri, and Sivarathri.

Photos from Ragavendran / ♥Rags♥, Rakesh JV, dinesh.I, Rajagopalan Sarangapani, and dsaravanane.