Tribal women make natural colours this Holi

By using the native flowers of their hamlets, these women want to send a strong message, emphasising on the use of natural and non-toxic colours for Holi festival

Thane Using indigenous herbs and forest flowers, tribal women in Murbad have created vibrant natural colours to paint the town for the festival of Holi on March 18.

Early this month, the Agricultural Science department of Murbad conducted a workshop on how to make natural colours, which also aimed at creating employment opportunities for these women (Praful Gangurde)

By using the native flowers of their hamlets, these women want to send a strong message, emphasising on the use of natural and non-toxic colours for the festival.

Early this month, the Agricultural Science department of Murbad conducted a workshop on how to make natural colours, which also aimed at creating employment opportunities for these women.

Agriculture Science and Home science expert, Asmita Tupe, who has conducted these workshops said, “We have conducted natural colour-making workshops in more than 20 Adivasi padas of Murbad and Saralgaon area. The women are so passionate about the workshop and got information about how to distribute these colours, thus we also had an extended workshop on packaging.”

The women have learned to make both types of dry and wet colours by using Palash tree, rose, neem leaves, turmeric, nilgiri, different flours, healthy soil and few other materials.

A woman from Saral village, Shanti Pawar, 38, said, “We are trying to teach our children to play with natural colours through this initiative. This is just the first year, so we will distribute the colours in the nearby areas. We have also started selling them door to door by explaining their benefits to the villagers. The materials used are easily available to us, we have formed different teams to collect, make the colours and package the materials. We sell it merely for ₹5 as it is only for the people of the villages.”