Holi - The Colours

One popular legend surrounding Holi talks about Lord Krishna, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, pulling a prank on his beloved consort, Radha. Jealous of Radha’s fair complexion, Krishna, who was dark skinned, smeared her body with coloured powder in a playful attempt to make her resemble him. Soon, this exchange between Radha and Krishna reached the jealous ears of gopis (female cattle herders). They partook in this playful exchange by smearing each other with colours. As time progressed, this episode between Radha, Krishna and the gopis is said to have snowballed into a festival celebrated by all Hindu communities - Holi. When covered a multitude of colours, the true colour of one’s skin is neither visible, nor relevant. The legend highlights this uniformity created through colour, hinting at the advocacy of racial equality.

Holi celebrations generally begin early in the morning. It is welcomed with enthusiasm across communities. Families and communities invite each other to gatherings, spray colored water and smear each other with coloured powder.

While most Indian festivals are colourful and bright, Holi goes the extra mile with its focus on colours! Streets are splayed with green, yellow, red, pink, purple and blue hues. Plates are stacked with coloured powders and buckets are filled with coloured water.

While there are synthetic pigments available in the market now, natural herbs are still widely used. They are safer and also prove beneficial due to their medicinal and cosmetic properties. There are many plant-based sources of these colours. Yellow powder is prepared from turmeric (an antiseptic), green from henna (a natural coolant) and red from kumkum (which improves complexion). Blue coloured powder can be prepared from dried indigo flowers or blue hibiscus. Similarly, popular colours like purple and saffron are prepared from dried beetroot and mixing with lime with turmeric, respectively.

Heavy water consumption is also a modern concern during Holi. Many responsible citizens have resorted to playing dry Holi as an alternative.

The spirit of Holi is reflective of the blossoming of nature in Spring. In many parts of India, traditional folk songs are sung with percussion instruments like the dholak. More popular in urban areas is to have selective Bollywood songs that resonate with the festival. And of course, where music is, dancing follows.