Holi: Rooting back in time
The colourful and divine festival of Holi, named in ancient India as ‘Holika’, after the demon king Hiranyakashyap’s sister who burned in a fire despite her boon, marks the arrival of springtime in India. Thought to have existed from times before Christ, the festival of Holi has been celebrated mostly by Aryans in the Indian subcontinent through the ages. Stone inscriptions belonging to times as old as 300 B.C. mentioning Holikotsav have been found and the traveller Al-baruni, who was a Muslim, also recorded the festival in his memoirs. Contemporary Muslim writers of his period mention that in that era, Holikotsav was celebrated not only by Hindus, but also by Muslims.
Several sculptures on walls and stone murals of temples all over the country hold references to Holi. They depict not only commoners but also princes, princesses, Gods and Godesses with colours and water.
Keeping in mind the harmful effects and colour patches left by chemical colours, more and more people are opting for natural colours with each passing year. This phenomenon is in fact a kind of reversal to the roots as the original concept of the splashing of colours on each other in ancient times had a good reason beyond mere fun and
cheer. The natural elements and materials that are used to make natural colours retain their herbal and therapeutic properties as powder colours and even when mixed in water. In the course of the play of colours, people get covered in various colours and the properties of the colours act on the skin. They provide the nutrients and nourishment required at this particular time of the year, as spring takes its first steps into the year. Afterall, the physical body also
starts adapting to the change in season and demands nutrients appropriate for the oncoming weather change.
Natural colours are made up of a whole variety of natural ingredients like plant leaves, flowers, spices, mud, ground grains, etc. Red sandalwood powder and dry red hibiscus petals for red gulaal. Yellow is made up of turmeric powder (haldi) with twice the amount of besan (gram flour), rice flour, ground nut powder, Fuller’s earth (multanimitti) or talcum powder. For Orange, little stalks of saffron (kesar) flowers like Tesu, Palash or Dhak etc. For Pink or Magenta
beetroot, Kachnar flowers (pink variety), for Green Henna powder, flour (rice flour, wheat flour), Amla (intended to be applied to hair), for Blue Jacaranda flowers, petals of the blue Hibiscus, that originates in Kerala. Brown is made using Kattha (Acacia catechu), simmered tea or coffee leaves and Black is made with Indian gooseberry (amla) boiled in an iron vessel, black grape juice weakened with adequate water. All ingredients are finely ground or boiled in water, as they are. Like Neem, Turmeric, Heena and Tesu flowers that have medicinal properties, all other ingredients have their own advantages and properties that contribute to the well-being of the body. Thus, the colours feed the skin to glow in summer and keep it healthy.
As a result, apart from saving the environment from contamination through chemicals in colours that get mixed with soil, it is in fact a matter of personal benefit to use natural colours. People even make their own colours to use in the festival, now that recipes and procedures are available in plenty via the internet, and this is increasingly becoming a part of the rituals of Holi. What better way of getting therapeutic skin applications can there be, than taking fistfuls of colour and throwing it around, painting people a myriad of hues and colours.
By Cynthia Roli Gupta
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