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Gulal or abir is the traditional name given to the coloured powders used for some
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
rituals, in particular for the Holi festival or
Dol Purnima Dol Purnima, also popularly known as Dol Jatra, Dola Jatra, Doul Utsav or Deul, is a Hindu swing festival celebrated during the Holi festival of Assam, Bengal, Braj region, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Tripura. This festival is dedicated to ...
(though commonly associated with the red colour used in the festival). During Holi, which celebrates love and equality, people throw these powder solutions at each other while singing and dancing.


Legend

According to Hindu mythology, Radha was extremely fair and Lord Krishna had a dark complexion. Because of their different skin tones, Krishna often worried about whether Radha would accept him and complained to his mother Yashoda. Yashoda once jokingly suggested that Krishna paint Radha's face a different colour to hide any differences. Krishna did as his mother advised and used gulal to smear Radha's face. And that's how the celebration of Holi began.


Composition


From natural to chemical

In earlier times, Gulal powders were prepared from flowers coming from trees, such as the
Indian coral tree ''Erythrina variegata'', commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, is a species of ''Erythrina'' native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the Ind ...
and the flame of the forest, that had medicinal properties, beneficial to the skin. After the advent of
synthetic dyes A Colourant, colorant is any substance that changes the spectral transmittance or reflectance of a material. Synthetic colorants are those created in a laboratory or industrial setting. The production and improvement of colorants was a driver of th ...
in the middle of 19th century, the disappearance of trees in urban areas and the pursuit of higher profits led to the abandonment of natural colours.Ganesh Mulwad, "Holi Mumbai 2020: Know How Mumbaikars Reveal Their Happy Colors!"
in ''World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences'', Vol. 3, Issue 9, 2014
The new industrial dyes have been manufactured through chemical processes with non-standard parameters and hence the resulting colours are sometimes toxic for face and skin, causing problems such as eye irritation, allergies, skin infection and asthma.Kapoor, V.P. and Pushpangadan, P., "Natural dye-based Herbal Gulal"
in ''Natural Product Radiance'', 2002 pp. 8-14,
Unsafe products have often been sold on the road by small traders, in boxes with labels saying "for industrial use only". Chemicals in Holi colours can lead to many harmful effects on health like skin issues, eye and respiratory problems.


Natural dyes

The harmful effects and environmental concerns have led to alternative preparation of herbal gulal, using
turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...
(''Curcuma longa''),
indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
(''
Indigofera ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description ''Indigofera'' is a varied genu ...
'') or
annatto Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (''Bixa orellana''), native to tropics, tropical parts of the Americas. It is often used to impart a yellow to red-orange color to foods, but ...
('' Bixa orellana'') etc.


Uses


Religious and cultural uses

Gulal powder has always had an important role in
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
culture and has always been used for religious purposes. Besides Holi festival, the use of coloured powders appears in other ceremonies, such as funerals. In this case, in some populations, a particular ritual occurs when the deceased is a married man. The widow puts on all the ornaments she possesses and takes leave of her husband adorning him with all her jewels. Holding a small brass plate with colored powders, she lets the men participating in the ceremony paint the face of the deceased. This ritual is associated with the one of marriage, in which the bridegroom and the bride anoint themselves with coloured powders for four days before the wedding. This ointment, indeed, is meant to prepare their bodies for conjugal life. Beyond the religious sphere, the consumption of gulal powder is spread for different uses.


Curiosities

Indian manufacturers of Holi colours are facing huge losses as Chinese alternatives capture more of the market. A survey reported that Chinese products are more innovative and cheaper by up to 55%, comparing to powders manufactured locally in regions like
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
,
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
,
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
and
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
. The introduction of these Chinese products, despite the central government effort to promote "Made in India", is making survival difficult for small manufacturers, most of whom have been engaged in the business for decades."This Holi, no takers for local gulal as Chinese products flood market"
in The Times of India, 2016 Coldplay's video "Hymn for the Weekend" was filmed in
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
during the Holi festival, using gulal powder as a central feature. Th
video
for
Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...
's " Permanating" features a troupe of
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
dancers who scatter Gulal powders during the final minute of the song.


See also

*
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
*
The Color Run The Color Run is an event series and five kilometer paint race, inspired by the Hindu festival of Holi, that is owned and operated by The Color Run LLC, a for-profit company. It takes place in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, New Ze ...


References

{{reflist Hindu festivals Holi Powders