Holi, the festival of colors, is knocking at our doorsteps and from vibrant colors to delicious sweet dishes, the day offers nothing less than happiness.
As much as people love to play Holi, one can’t forget the ill effects caused by the blatant use of artificial colors made with the help of chemical solvents and toxic agents.
The chemical colors can harm your skin and may cause rashes or allergies. It could even damage your hair, leading to breakage, dandruff, and several other issues.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, people themselves are taking major precautions in terms of selecting the materials used for Holi celebrations.
So, this time instead of buying artificial colors from nearby markets, you can opt for natural, chemical-free Holi colors made at home. Here are the steps to create your own eco-friendly homemade Holi colors:
1. Yellow: To create your own homemade yellow color, take turmeric powder in a bowl and mix it with double of its quantity’s gram flour (besan), wheat flour, or crushed multani mitti (fuller’s earth). For bringing fragrance to your color, you can add talcum powder to create the mixture.
2. Red/Magenta: Take a beetroot and grate it. Now squeeze the colored juice from the grated beetroot. In a bowl take a good quantity of talcum powder or corn flour. Now start mixing the juice to the powder slowly and rub the mixture with your hand, in order to create a hard mixture.
On a plane plastic wrap, take the mixture out and leave it to air dry. After a few hours, check if the mixture is dried and put that in a grinder. Grind it until desirable powder is achieved.
For red color, another method that can be used is to mix the roli (sindoor) powder in a bowl with double the amount of talcum powder. This method is recommended for only those, who are not allergic to roli powder.
3. Green: Mix an equal quantity of henna powder with flour to form a homemade green color. Make sure it is a pure henna powder with no additional ingredients like amla which is meant to leave color.
This henna powder will only be used to make a dry gulal, which you can dust off after playing.
4. Orange: To obtain a beautiful orange color, peel off four oranges and grind the peel with a little amount of water. In a bowl, take a good amount of talcum powder or crushed multani mitti (fuller’s earth).
Slowly mix the orange paste with the powder in the bowl and rub it with your hands. Make sure to make a heavy mixture. Take out the mixture on a plastic wrap, and let it dry. After two-three hours take the dried mixture and grind it in a mixture jar. Your orange color is ready for use.
This year Holi will be celebrated on March 29. Even though it is a predominantly Hindu festival, it is celebrated by people of other faiths as well. It marks the arrival of the spring harvest season in the country.
People celebrate the festival by binging on some lip-smacking sweets, thandai and splash colored powder, water, and balloons while chanting “Holi Hai”.
The evening before Holi is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi during which people light a bonfire to signify the burning of the demon Holika.
