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Articles: Festivals | Holi
- Mr. mohan Konneti
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| Play Holi - Naturally...!
Ravishing REDS
Dry : Red Sandalwood Powder also known as 'Raktachandan' or 'Lal chandan' has a beautiful red color and is good for skin too. It can be used dry as 'Gulal' or as 'Rang' by boiling two teaspoon of color with five litres of water and diluting it with twenty litres of water. Shade-dry red hibiscus flowers and powder them to make a lovely red color. One can add flour to it to increase the bulk. The brick-red colored seeds of Sinduria (Annato) yield both dry and wet colors.
Wet : Put two teaspoons of Red Sandalwood powder in five litres of water and boil. Dilute with 20 litres of water. Peels of Red Pomegranate boiled in water also give the desired red colour.
Mix a pinch of lime powder (the one that we eat with our paan / betel leaves) in half a cup of water and add 2 table spoon of haldi (turmeric) powder in it. Mix it thoroughly. Use only after diluting with 10 litres of water. Buras (Rhododentron arboreum) known as Burans in the Garhwal hills and Brand in the Kumaon hills gives a lovely red color when soaked in water overnight. The Palita Madar / Pangri / Indian Coral tree (Erythrina indica), found commonly in coastal regions, has large red flowers. Soak the flowers in water overnight.
Boil wood of Madder Tree in water for a deep red color. Red color can also be obtained from juice of tomatoes and carrots. This can be diluted with sufficient quantity of water to remove the stickiness.
Garden GREENS
Dry : Use mehendi / henna powder (not mixed with amla) separately or mix with equal quantity of any flour to attain a lovely green shade. Dry mehendi will not leave color on your face as it can be easily brushed off. Only mehendi mixed in water might leave a slight color on your face. Many people like smearing other person's hair with colors. How about doing it with mehendi powder and saving a trip to the parlor?
Dry and finely powder the leaves of Gulmohur tree for a green color.
Crush the tender leaves of the Wheat plant to obtain a natural safe green Holi color.
Wet : Mix two teaspoons of mehendi in one litre of water. Stir well.
Green color can also be obtained by mixing a fine paste of leaves like spinach / palak, coriander / dhaniya, mint / pudina, etc. in water.
Marvelous MAGENTAS
Wet : Slice or grate one Beetroot. Soak in 1 litre of water for a wonderful magenta. Leave overnight for a deeper shade. Dilute with water. Boil the peels of 10-15 onions in half litre of water for an orangish-pink color. Remove the peels before using to remove the smell.
Sparkling SAFFRONS
Wet : The Flame of the Forest (Butea monosperma), known, as Tesu, Palash or Dhak in Indian languages, is the source of the wonderful, traditional color for Holi. The flowers are soaked overnight in water and can also be boiled to obtain a fragrant yellowish orange colored water. Legends say Lord Krishna used to play Holi with Tesu flowers, which also have some medicinal properties. Boil flowers petals of Semul / Silk Cotton, a red variety of Bombax ceiba) in water. Both Tesu and Semul bloom during February March.
Collect and dry the stalks of Harashringar / Parijatak (Nyctanthes arbontristis) flowers during the early winter season. Soak them in water to get a pleasant orange color.
Mix a pinch of sandalwood powder in 1 litre of water for an instant, beautiful and fragrant saffron color.
Soak a few stalks of Saffron / Kesar in 2 tablespoons of water. Leave for few hours and grind to make a fine paste. Dilute with water for desired color strength. Though expensive, it is excellent for the skin.
Dazzling YELLOWS
Dry : Mix two teaspoons of haldi / turmeric powder with double the quantity of besan (gram flour). Haldi and besan are extremely healthy for our skin, and are also used widely as a uptan while taking bath. You can use the ordinary haldi or 'kasturi' haldi, which is very fragrant and has enhanced therapeutic effects. Besan can be substituted by wheat / rice / arrowroot flour or talcum powder.
Flowers like Amaltas (Cassia fistula), Marigold / Gainda (Tagetus erecta), and Yellow Chrysanthemums yield different shades of yellow. Dry the petals of these flowers in shade and crush them to obtain a fine powder. Take appropriate quantity of the powder and mix it with besan or use separately.
Dry the rind of the Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos) and grind to obtain a yellow colored powder.
Wet : : Add one teaspoon of haldi to two litres of water and stir well. This can be boiled to increase the concentration of color and further diluted. Soak 50 marigold flowers in 2 litres of water. Boil and leave overnight.
Bright BLUES
Dry : Jacaranda flowers can be dried in the shade and ground to obtain a beautiful blue powder. The flowers bloom in summers. The Blue Hibiscus (found in Kerala) can be dried and powdered.
Wet : Crush berries of the Indigo tree and add to water for desired color strength. In some Indigo species the leaves when boiled in water yield a rich blue.
Various HOLI celebrations in India
The celebration of Holi is celebrated with different aspects in different parts of the country.
It is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, a carnival of colors, a community festival, and a tradition of ancient spring rites,
Though the grand finale takes place on the full moon day of Phalgun, the play stretches for about a week or so, especially in the North of India. However, in the rest of India, the main functions start in the afternoon before the final day.
An Evening of Bonfires
The day before the full moon day of the Holi is called as the Small Holi. Children light up bonfires and sing and dance around it. The evil spirit, symbolized by all the dead leaves, twigs, dirt and filth that collect during the winter months, is thrown up in the fire.
People sometimes take embers from the fire to their homes to rekindle their own domestic fires. In some community, a pot of new barley seeds is placed for roasting under the pyre before the bonfire is lit up. These seeds are eaten after the fire dies down. The yields in the coming harvest season are predicted by reading the direction of the flames or by the state of the roasted seeds in the pot.
The ashes from the Holi fire are also believed to provide protection against diseases. It's something similar to the ancient rites of burning Maypole in the West.
The Carnival of Colours
The main event of Holi is indeed a carnival of colors. On this day, children, friends and neighbors come out on the streets. And the spree to color-anyone-you-see takes over. Colors of all form and variety are available readily in the markets today . They come in shades of red, orange, blue, green, and purple, and the likes. And they are available in oil, water or powder base.
Colored powder, or, gulal was earlier made out of dried seeds of some tropical flowers like the Palash, and dried silt from the riverbed. This has now given way to synthetic dyes, available in the form of pigments. For a glittering effect, fine dust of Mica are also mixed with the powdered dye. People throw these colored powders in the air as they shout 'Holi Hai!', and smear each other with this colored powder.
Also they wet each other with colored water from Pichkaaris. Colored water is prepared by mixing the pigments of synthetic dyes. These dyes are available in a range of shades. These are sold by most of the local grocers and special purpose kiosks which crop up only for those Holi days. These outlets also sell other Holi accessories, like Pichkaaris, balloons, and head gears, along with coloring pigments. A Pichkaari is a kind of long syringe or sprinkler throwing jets of water from a distance. water-filled balloons are used these days to charge the target with a splash of color. Indeed the effect is blasting enough to be taken aback. So don't get shocked if you go out in the streets, on this day, and suddenly, a balloon darts at you, leaving you wet and colored!
Community Festival:
It is a community festival that bridges the social gap. People color each other with gulal and other form of dyes. Young men throw coloured powder and coloured water on women. They also visit homes, distribute sweets and greet each other. Men, women, adult and children all take part in dances and other cultural programs.
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