How to celebrate holi in eco friendly way
Holi is the festival of colors in India.It is celebrated in the season of love,' spring' ,so it is called as 'Basanth utsav'.Holi is celebrated at the end of winter on the full moon day(poornima) of lunar month (phalguna), usually appear in the months of february or march.
The most prominent story about Holi seems the legend of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap. Hiranyakshyap was a terrible and powerful king, declared himself as God and expected his people to worship him. His son Prahlad chose to worship Lord Vishnu instead. Because of this betrayal Hiranyakshyap asked his sister Holika, who has a supernatural protection from fire, to walk into the flames carrying Prahlad. Prahlad’s devotion to the Lord Vishnu saved him from fire and Holika lost her protection and was burned.Hence the name 'Holika poornima'.
In Brindavan and Mathura where Lord Krishna grew up,this festival is celebrated for 15 days.Lord Krishna used to play Holi with his love Radha and with gopi’s in brindavan.
Precautions
1.Avoid wastage of water.
2.Use cap or scarf so that damage to hair reduces.
3.Avoid using harmful chemical products and oil paints.
4.Use natural colors instead of synthetic colors.
5.Wash immediately after playing holi.
6.Wash hands properly especially nails.
Synthetic colors
Synthetic colors are available in 3 forms dry colors, paste form and wet colors.They cause many harmful effects on health.Here is the list of colors which cause ill-health :-
COLOR
| CHEMICAL
| AFFECT ON BODY
|
|---|---|---|
Black
| Lead oxide
| Renal failure
|
Blue
| Prussian blue
| Contact dermatitis
|
Red
| Mercury sulphide
| Carcinogenic
|
Dry colors
| Asbestos or Silica(bases)
| Asthma, Dermatitis
|
Silver
| Aluminium bromide
| Carcinogenic
|
Green
| Copper sulphate
| Eye allergies, temporary blindness
|
Wet colors
| Gentian violet
| Skin discoloration,dermatitis
|
Pink
| Rhodamin
| Liver problems
|
Natural colors
Using natural herbal colors is not only safe but also therapeutic. They even give nice fragrance. Here are some natural herbal colors :
DRY COLORS:-
YELLOW :Turmeric powder, Besan(gram flour),flowers like Amaltas, marigold,yellow chrysanthemums yield different shades of yellow.Dry the petals of these flowers in shade and crush them to powder.
GREEN : Use henna leaves or dry gulmohur leaves crushing into fine powder.
BLUE : The Jacaranda flowers dried in the shade and powdered to get a beautiful shade of blue color.
RED : Red sandalwood has a beautiful red color.
Dry flowers of red hibiscus in shade and crush to powder.Seeds of sinduria (Annato) fruit also grounded to use as red color.
MAGENTA :Slice and dry beet root and crush it into powder.
SAFFRON : Flowers of silk cotton (Bombax ceiba) dried and used in powdered form.
BLACK : Dry powder of amla or gooseberry for black color.
To increase quantity of each color, they mixed with proper amount of flour or fuller's earth (multani mitti).
WET COLORS:-
- To the 2 liters of water add 2 tsp of turmeric and mix it well to get the yellow color. You can adjust the quantity of turmeric to get the desired intensity of the color.
- Soak 5-60 marigold flower in one and half liter of water overnight, boil it and mix in normal water to get natural yellow color.
- Add 2 tsp of red sandalwood powder to 1 litre of water and dilute with 10 liters of water to get red color.
- Boil Tea or Coffee leaves in water to get the brown color .
- Soak flowers of Tesu or Plash (Flame of forest) overnight in the water and use the bright orange water as wet color.
- Add grated beetroot to in 1 litre of water and soak it one hour for a vibrant magenta color. Boil or leave overnight for a deeper shade and use diluted with water.
