Why colours are thrown on people in Holi Festival of Hindu?

Why colours are thrown on people in Holi Festival of Hindu?

PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

          

Holi is a fun-filled spring festival celebrated on the last full moon day in the month of Phalguna Purnima (Full Moon). The festival date changes every year, per the Hindu calendar, but usually comes in March or sometimes in February. Holi is a time when humans and nature shake off the gloom of winter and rejoice in the colours of spring. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, and other regions of the world having considerable Hindus populations. It is known as the ‘Festival of Colours’ and is celebrated in different 

ways in different regions of India. But we are interested in the colour sprinkling event! It starts the next day, and continues for a full five days, the festival takes a colourful twist when dry coloured powders and coloured water are thrown on the faces of family, friends, and even strangers.   Tradition quoted by Hindu is that with the change of the seasons, it is easy to catch a cold or virus brought on by the weather, so colourful medicinal herbs were used as precaution and to safeguard against anticipated diseases. In the beginning, coloured powder were made up of ground-up neem( Azadirachta indica) leaves(green colour), turmeric root/haldi/  the root or rootstock of the Curcuma longa. (yellow colour) and the mineral kum-kum/sindoor/vermilion/ Chemically red lead(red colour).All the ingredients were used dry and often mixed with water and splashed on others. Apart from fun festival, the sprinkling of colours during Holi once had medicinal significance. Neem is insecticidal; Turmeric is germicidal and anti-inflammatory; kum kum is natural remedy for hyperpigmentation. Keeping in mind the Ayurvedic traditions of India in mind, it appear that colour throwing might have started in health perspective.

            Today, most of the coloured dyes thrown during Holi are synthetic that is in sharp contrast to the original tradition. So, instead of countering diseased, these artificial colours may harm one's health. A study was conducted in 2001which disclosed that many of the dyes used during Holi were toxic and carried health risks; two of the colours, including red -- one of the most predominate colors -- were found to be made of carcinogenic chemicals.  Traditional sindoor was prepared from  turmeric and alum or lime , or from other herbals. These are not poisonous. Modern sindoor mainly uses vermilion; an orange-red pigment and is purified and powdered form of cinnabar (HgS) containing mercury sulfide. The compounds of mercury are toxic. Sometimes, red lead (triplumbic tetra-oxide Pb₃O₄- minium) is added to sindoor. Red lead is toxic and proved carcinogenic for experimented animals; however its carcinogenicity to humans has not yet proved.