New Delhi, February 27 (IANS). Holi, a festival full of colors and happiness, is on March 4, celebrating the beginning of spring and the harvest. People celebrate by drenching each other in red, blue and other colors. But most of the synthetic colors available in the market contain harmful chemicals, metal particles and glass pieces, which can cause skin allergies, burning sensation, eye irritation and long-term health problems.
The My Government portal of the Government of India provides information about natural colours. According to the portal, these colors also harm the environment as they take a lot of time to decompose. In such a situation, making colors from natural ingredients at home is the best option to protect the environment and health. These colors are skin safe, child friendly and completely environment friendly. These can be easily prepared from things available in the kitchen or garden.
Red Colour:- Beetroot gives the easiest and darkest red colour. Peel and grate 2-3 beetroots, boil them in water or grind them in a blender and extract the juice. Filter this juice and use it. To make dry gulal, mix cornstarch or flour in the juice and dry it in the sun. Alternatively, the color can be extracted by boiling red hibiscus or red rose petals. Pomegranate peel or tomato juice also gives red color.
Yellow colour:- Mix turmeric powder in water and boil it, then filter it. Make yellow gulal by mixing it with gram flour, rice flour or cornstarch. Boiling marigold petals also produces a bright yellow color. This color remains shiny and safe on the skin.
Green colour:- Wash spinach, coriander or other greens leaves thoroughly and boil them in water. Blend the leaves and extract the juice. Filter it and use it. Neem leaves also give green color and have anti-bacterial properties. For dry gulal, mix the juice with cornstarch and dry it in the sun.
Pink colour: You can get a pink shade by diluting the beetroot juice a little. Pink color is also obtained by boiling rose petals or Nayanthara flowers. Boiling onion peels produces a light pink color.
Blue Colour:- Extract blue color by soaking or boiling Butterfly Pea or Vishnukanta flowers in water. Jacaranda flowers also give blue color. Make dry gulal by mixing it with cornstarch.
Orange color:- Prepare orange color by boiling Palash flowers or henna (Jetuka) leaves. Orange shade can also be obtained by mixing turmeric and beetroot juice. These colors are easy to make and do not contain any chemicals. Make it at home and play Holi with your family, so that the festival becomes happy as well as safe and green.
–IANS
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