Ram Lalla's Holi 2024: Celebrate With Eco-Friendly 'Kachnar Flower' Gulal!

A special herbal gulal has been crafted by the scientists of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI) to celebrate Ram Lalla's Holi in Ayodhya this year.

"It has been developed a skin-friendly herbal gulal from flowers of 'Ayodhya state tree' to be offered to Ram Lalla on this Holi," stated Ajit Kumar Shasany, director, CSIR-NBRI.

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Ram Lalla To Celebrate Eco-Friendly Holi 2024

In Treta Yuga, Kachnar was considered the state tree of Ayodhya, and it has been used as a well-established medicine in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. The herbal gulal has been developed by scientists for Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya," he mentioned.

Two herbal gulals in different fragrances have been developed this time. One is with Kachnar flowers, and the other is from flowers offered at Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur," he noted while both the gulals were gifted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, as reported by Hindustan Times.

"The gulal from flowers of Kachnar is developed in a lavender fragrance while the gulal from flowers offered at Gorakhnath temple is developed in a sandalwood fragrance," he added.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath praised the institute's effort and said, "The initiative will provide more opportunities to start-ups and entrepreneurs while generating employment both within Uttar Pradesh as well as across the country."

Shasany mentioned that the institute had already prepared plant-based herbal gulal from various flowers including Marigold, Rose, Hibiscus, Jasmine, and others. However, the institute has this time tried making gulal using two flowers with both medicinal and cultural significance. Kachnar has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties, he stated.

He also mentioned that these herbal gulals are not bright in color as they do not contain harmful chemicals like lead, chromium, and nickel. "The colours extracted from flowers are mixed with natural ingredients to form a powder that can easily be wiped off the skin.

The powder provides a synergistic mixture of coloured dry powder which has good sticking capacity to skin and can be easily removed by soft mop," he elaborated, reported Free Press Journal.

Eco-Friendly Herbal Gulal Technology Transferred To Companies And Start-ups

The herbal gulal technology has been transferred to numerous companies and start-ups to enhance the availability of eco-friendly gulal in the market. According to the institute, the NBRI-developed herbal gulal, branded as Shri Ganesha, is being sold by a company based in Chhattisgarh and is readily available in all leading departmental stores in Lucknow and other cities of North India.

Additionally, the product is being sold on Amazon by various sellers. The original product can be identified by the CSIR-NBRI logo branding on the box.

Herbal Gulal: Safe Alternative to Toxic Chemicals

While talking about the chemical gulal presently available in the market, Dr Shasany said these are toxic as they contain hazardous chemicals which can cause allergies, irritation & serious problems to the skin and eyes. He added that the best way to identify the herbal gulal is that, unlike the other gulal it will not leave the fast colour in the hands.