Gulal by women is prepared from Palak bhaji, laal bhaji, beetroot, turmeric, and Palash flowers
Korea 28 February 2023
Women from the district's self-help groups have already begun planning to double the joy of Holi, the festival of colours. Women work in the district to make herbal gulal; last year, women earned a good living from herbal gulal. Chemical-rich color-gulal causes serious skin and health problems; by using natural colours of herbal gulal, one can avoid these side effects.
In regard to this, Gulal is being prepared by 21 women of total 05 self-help groups in the district. Shree Radhe self-help group of village Basti of development block Baikunthpur, Maa Ambe self-help group of village Bargaon, Sagar self-help group of village Bhainswar of development block Sonhat, Kranti self-help group of village Katgodi, and Sangharsh self-help group of Sonhat are preparing Gulal. Women's have so far prepared about 105 kg of gulal. Gulal will be sold by setting up stalls at various places in the district, along with this, herbal gulal will also be available in C-Mart.
The Process of Manufacturing of Herbal Gulal
The women in the group stated that they have received training through the National Rural Livelihood Mission Bihan. Anupama Beck, a member of the group, explained that gulal is made by combining natural colour extracts with arrowroot powder. Arrowroot powder is widely available in supermarkets. She stated that beetroot is used for pink, spinach for green, turmeric for yellow, and palash flowers for orange, and that other flowers and vegetables are used for other colours as well. These are dried and mixed with water to make a paste, after which gulal is prepared with natural fragrance.