Play organic Holi with natural colors

Shahnaz Husain *

Holi is one of the most loved and zestful festivals celebrated in India with immense joy and enthusiasm every year.

Traditionally the Holi colours were created with naturally helpful ingredients like hibiscus flowers, henna leaves, Kesar, sandalwood and more. These natural colours are not just good for your skin, hair and eyes but even cleanse and clear the dead skin. As Holi arrives in the season of spring, the Gulal colour was made of plants and flowers that blossomed during this month.

Holi gained popularity with time and natural colours got replaced with chemical-based synthetic colours gradually. These colours are cheaper compared to natural colours, but expensive for health as well as the environment.

The famous quote “Bura na mano holi hai” implies that all playful mischief is allowed in holi. The primary risk which Holi brings along with itself is exposure to harmful chemicals in form of Holi colours. These colours are made from harmful substances like acid, glass powder, industrial dye, copper sulphate, lead oxide etc.

The toxicity from these chemicals are just not harmful for skin and hairs but exposure to them increases the risk of serious health complications such as Bronchial asthma, Renal failure, temporary blindness and much more.

The situation becomes more alarming as it is young children who play Holi the most and thus get exposed to these harmful chemicals the most. Add to that later these chemicals cause environmental degradation and pollute groundwater and soil.

So, what are the options ? The best option is definitely to make your natural, herbal and safe Holi colors at home

1--Gulal ---- The most popular color of Holi, Gulal can be made by mixing 100 grams of turmeric power with 200 grams of arrowroot powder along with 50 grams of marigold flowers and 20 grams of powdered orange peel. Add to the mixture 20 grams of lemon or sandalwood essential oil and rub the mixture gently together to get a bowl full of safe and natural yellow colored gulal

2--Red---Red colour can be made by boiling petals of red hibiscus or red roses, beet or carrots. Tomato or carrot juice, pomegranate peel, puroi xaak guti, red sandalwood can also be used for the same.

Red colour can also be prepared using dried red hibiscus flowers. Take properly dried hibiscus or China rose flowers and then grate them into a fine powder. Red sandalwood can also be used in its place. You can add rice flour uniform quantity to obtain dry red colour. You can boil peel of pomegranate to get wet colour.

3--Green----Green colour is a vibrant and lively colour choice for holi celebrations. Green colour can be prepared by boiling different green leafy vegetables in water such as spinach (paleng), mustard greens (laai), coriander (dhania), etc. Neem leaves or other kinds of green leaves with medicinal values can also be helpful in this regard.

Green coloured gulal can be made using henna or Mehendi powder. For wet colour, you can use any green leafy vegetables, such as spinach or Neem. The leaves when dipped in water will give it a green colour. To make it natural, corn starch, betel leaf and bathua leaves are used

4--Magenta----Beetroot is a good source of red/pink pigment. You can soak sliced beetroots in water, boil the mixture and leave it overnight. You can also use red onions. Strain the water and cool it before use. If you wish to have a darker shade of pink, just dilute the mixture a little more.

5--Pink---- The light pink colour is one of the common colours used in holi celebrations. Rose, rose periwinkle (nayantara) or four o’ clock flower (godhuli gopal) can be used to make pink colour for Holi. Pink colour can also be prepared by mixing finely chopped beets in water or by boiling onion peels in water. To make it natural, corn starch, beetroot and dried rose petals are used.

6--Yellow----Yellow is another one of the favourite colours used in holi. Yellow colour can be acquired by boiling marigold petals or add turmeric in water to make wet yellow colours. Turmeric powder can be mixed with gram flour or rice flour for presenting yellow colour.

To make it natural, corn starch, turmeric and dried lemon peels are used. Make sure the turmeric is organic, this will result in better colouring.