Holi, the festival of colours, will be celebrated on March 29. The festival is all about new beginnings -it welcomes the spring season and celebrates the end of winter.
On the day of Holika Dahan, Purnima Tithi begins at 03:27 am on Mar 28, 2021, and ends at 12:17 am on Mar 29, 2021.
The Holi festival always falls on Purnima, or the day of the full moon in the month of Phalguna, which falls around the middle of March as per the Gregorian calendar.
The Holi colours simply add on to the festive fervour and there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t love the plethora of colours in the air. But time and again, we bear the brunt of the chemical based colours have on our skin and their side effects on our overall health.
As Holi 2021 is just few days away, here are some simple steps to prepare natural colours at home:
How to make herbal colours at home?
Red Colour:
Dry hibiscus flowers in the shade and grind them. Blood-red flowers will give you a beautiful colour. If you wish to increase its bulk, add some flour and mix thoroughly.
Red Sandalwood powder or Lal Chandan will not only give out a lovely shade but is also great for your skin. You can use its powder form as a dry colour, and also for wet colour. Just add two teaspoons of the powder in a litre of water and bring it to boil. When it cools down, dilute and use.
Yellow Colour:
Mix two teaspoons of haldi / Turmeric powder with double quantity of besan (gram flour). Haldi and besan are extremely healthy for our skin, and are also used widely as a ubtan 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 atta, maida, rice flour, arra rot (ground nut) powder, fuller’s earth (multani mitti) and even talcum powder.
Green Colour:
Mix a paste of mint (pudina)/ spinach (palak) with water and strain the liquid. Dilute it with water to get the right colour.
Blue Colour:
The Jacaranda flowers can be dried in the shade and ground to obtain a beautiful blue powder. The flowers bloom in summers.The blue Hibiscus which is found in Kerala can be dried and powdered just like the red hibiscus.
Pink Colour:
Along with pink hibiscus flowers, beetroot is an excellent ingredient to make organic pink or magenta colours. For a dry variety, grind a beetroot to make a paste. Let it dry under the sun. Once it is dried completely, add besan (gram flour) or wheat flour to increase its bulk.
For a wet colour, boil pieces of beetroot in water and let the mixture dry.
Purple Colour:
To prepare a deep purple colour, grind some grapes and Jamun in a grinder and mix it in water. Jamun works marvellously as natural dyes and will give you a beautiful purple colour.
