Holi, the festival of colours, is often awaited and dreaded, in the same measure. For the folks who love Holi, the reasons are obvious. There is colour, there is so much joy, there is great food, good company, and a festival that lets you have fun. For the latter, one of the biggest reasons that has emerged is how synthetic and chemically adulterated Holi has become over the years. There is colour, but you never know how badly it’ll affect your hair and skin; there is food, but well, you check twice before popping that gujhiya, and so on.
And often, when one voices their concern, the dismissal comes quickly. But if you are growing more and more allergic to the synthetic colours (count me in), and would rather change things up yourself, this quick guide on natural colours and playing safe Holi will help you!
Organic Holi colours
Let’s start here. One of the quickest ways to fix your Holi celebration is to opt for natural Holi colours. They are safer, they are nicer to your skin, come off quite easily, and are even better for the environment. Many brands in India that make natural colours are available both online and offline now. The easiest way to check if they are indeed natural is that they are often much lighter, blend well with water, and come off easily. The more saturated ones, like purples, blues, and bright greens, are often chemically synthesised, no matter how organic the brand might claim, so keep an eye out for those. And if you don’t know where to start, here is a quick guide to brands that retail natural Holi colours.
Make natural Holi colours at home
We cannot talk about playing Holi naturally and then not address the fact that natural colours can be a tad bit more expensive. And if you are hosting a Holi party, the price for those tiny bags of joy can pinch your pocket more than usual. If you have a bit of time on your hands, we suggest making natural Holi colours at home. It takes a bit of DIYing, a bit more patience, but we promise it can be a really fun activity. Make a pink with beetroots, yellow is turmeric, red can come from pomegranate peels, and so on. Here’s a quick guide to making your own natural Holi colours at home.
And a slightly controversial tip, based on whether or not you consider them natural. The natural colours made at home can often feel desaturated, especially the first few times. You might wanna add a few drops of natural food colouring to give it a bit more pop. Be careful, however, as there is a difference between natural food colouring and edible food colouring. Edible might not always be great for sensitive skin, while natural will mostly work, unless you have allergies, in which case, let’s focus on gujhiyas instead.
Making wet colour at home
This is my favourite part, because 1. Not many people know about this, 2. This is something we have long done in the family, and as kids, we just loved the process. Every year, as winter started, and harsingar blooms fell on the ground, we’d collect them. Also known as parijat or shiuli, the blooms are white with a bright orange stalk, and if you crush them, they stain your hands. After collecting them for weeks, they’d be spread out on the terrace to dry. A day or two before Holi, we’d put them in a muslin cloth and keep them dipped in large water containers. 12 hours later, we’d have a sweet-smelling, all-natural pale yellow water to play Holi with.
But the 90s were a different time, and if you can’t go collecting harsingar blooms, a quicker way is to get dried palash flowers. The process remains the same: soak and wait. The flower is known to be an antiseptic in Ayurveda, and while of course this process will not have made you a genius tincture, it is still a big relief for people who have sensitive skin. The only downside? It tastes bitter, but I guess that is still better than ingesting chemicals!
Natural Holi and festive food
Growing up, making gujhiya was a collective task. A tiny battalion of kids all sitting with gujhiya making cases, while an adult would roll the dough out, and another would supervise and collect, and another one would fry. But the whole process of making khoya at home, and then making a ghujiya, among so many other things, can be a bit taxing in today’s scene. If you’re hosting a Holi party, the only way to keep it natural and still fun is to turn it into a potluck. Based on where your friends are from, you might just get to try their version of what Holi dishes taste like.
If you can take a step further, try hosting gujhiya-making parties the weekend prior. Making khoya can be cumbersome and time-consuming, but if that’s taken care of, I promise you, making gujhiyas with friends is super fun. A quick hack is mixing condensed and powdered milk, but it doesn’t obviously give you the same rich khoya. If you want the actual deal, Maillard reaction and caramelisation included, it is a long process. But the sheer delight that piping hot gujhiyas are, more than makes up for it.
Natural Holi celebrations across India
Barsana and lathhmar Holi is famous for a reason, but it can also be harrowing, especially if you are a woman. As much as we’d like to look at Holi as a festival of colour and joy, the harassment that women face in the name of ‘bura na mano holi hai’ is very much a gritty reality.
But there are plenty of other places in India that celebrate natural Holi, peacefully and thoughtfully. Sangla in Kinnaur in Himachal hosts a week-long celebration called Faguli. The Almora and Ranikhet regions celebrate Holi in Kumaoni style, with music and dance. Kumaoni Holi also has Mahila Holi, which is women only gathering. It’s not the only place that lets women celebrate in peace. In Nagar village in Tonk, Rajasthan, Holi is a two-day celebration, where on the first day, menfolk leave by 10 AM. They head to the local Chamundeshwari Devi temple and spend the day in devotion, letting the womenfolk enjoy the colours to the fullest!