Holi is the most colorful and zestful festival which is celebrated by the people of Hindu faith. Holi is celebrated with even more enthusiasm in places that are associated with the life of Lord Krishna. The Holi celebrations in Braj regions like Mathura, Vrindavan, Gowardhan, Gokul, Nandagaon and Barsana are the most popular; especially the Lathmar Holi in Barsana is world-famous.
Originally, the Holi colours were made by using the bright flowers that blossomed during the spring season. As Holi arrives during the spring season, the Gulal colours were made of plants and flowers that blossomed during this month.
As Holi gained popularity with time all the natural colours got replaced with chemical-based synthetic colours gradually. These synthetic colours are cheaper compared to natural colours, but are expensive for the health as well as the environment.
This year in Holi, you can skip the unnatural colours available in the market and play a safe Holi by making your own natural colours at home and can choose to protect yourself, your loved ones and the environment by letting go of the toxic chemical colours by playing with natural homemade colours.
How To Make Different Holi Colors At Home?
1. Yellow- To make yellow colour, you need to take 1 cup water and boil it then add 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder. Boil the blend and pour it into a large tray and allow it to cool down. Once the mixture attains room temperature, add 2 tablespoon of rose water and 3 cups of cornflour. Mix it well and break the lumps, crush the mixture. Grind it once and sun dry.
2. Green is a simple colour and can be made using leafy greens like mint and spinach. Wash the leafy greens and make a smooth blend, strain the leaves through a sieve. Pour the blend and mix it with rose water in a large tray and add cups of corn flour. Mix it with hands, make sure there are no lumps. Grind it once and sun dry to use.
3. Orange colour can be made in just a few minutes using dried orange peels. Take the peels and grind it into a smooth powder. Then add corn flour and a little turmeric and mix it well. Use a sieve and run it through a sieve, use the Gulal and enjoy.
4. Pink- To make pink gulal at home, you need to take 1-2 medium beetroots, then grate them nicely and mix the grated beetroots with 1 cup of water. Use a strainer to squeeze out the juice of beetroot and add 1 tablespoon of rose water. In the meantime, to keep it all natural, you can use corn flour or talcum powder to make this homemade colour. Mix the 3 cups of corn flour with the juice and to make sure that the powder has no lumps you need to mix it with hands. Allow the powder the sun dry or heat it in a microwave to dry it out. Mix it well or grind it again and the colour is ready.
5. Red- To make red colour gulal at home, you need to take rose petals and soak them in water for one hour and then grind it into fine paste. Then add cornflour and mix it well and grind it into a smooth powder. Sun dry the powder or you can also microwave it.
6. Saffron- To prepare saffron colour at home you need to arrange for a Tesu flower then soak it in some water overnight. This primarily makes a wet colour and gives a pretty, deep saffron colour.
7. Purple- To prepare a deep purple colour, you need to grind some grapes and Jamun in a grinder and then mix it in water. Jamun works as natural dyes and gives a beautiful purple colour.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)