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© Reena Rose Sibayan / The Jersey Journal

JERSEY CITY, NJ, MARCH 10, 2009 -- Ashin Metah performs aarti, a Hindu ritual, where a lamp of light

is offered to deities, accompanied by prayers and song, on the eve of the Holi Festival,

also called the Festival of Colours, at the Govinda Sanskar Kendra on Newark Avenue.

Hindus sing praises to the deities on the eve of the Holi Festival.

A feast is ready to be served to the congregation of Hindus who gathered on the eve of the Holi Festival.

Hindus place their down-turned hands over the flames of a lamp on an aarti plate

and then raise their palms to their forehead as a way of seeking purificatory blessing.