Playing Holi with eco-friendly colours might be catching up in other parts of the country but for people in Barpeta district using extracts of flowers and vegetables is part of their age-old traditions.
As taught by the 16th century Vaishnavite socio-religious reformer Srimanta Sankardeba of Assam, people used extracts of flowers, trees, vegetable stalks, roots and herbs for making their gulal or 'fakuwa' as locally called.
People living around Barpeta Satra monastery, set up in 1583 AD by Sankardeba's disciple Madhabdeba, said they grind and boil natural dyes from beetroot, spinach, neem leaves, seeds of local leafy vegetable 'pooisaak', roots of 'aasu' tree, raw turmeric, Muga silk and vegetable stalk 'daatha' to get red, green, golden and purple colours.
Instead of buying colourful powder, the younger generation have continued playing Barpeta 'Dol Utsav'(Holi) the same way it was played centuries ago.
Locals said they still follow the practises prescribed by Madhabdeba when he had set up the Satra, which includes not to smear colour on the opposite gender as a mark of respect.
Holi is celebrated in Barpeta, known as the second Baikunthapuri on the belief that 'Dol Utsav' was first celebrated in heaven, as a reverence to farming.
The festival continues for more than three days as 'Dol Jatra' with religious rituals, prayers, singing of festive songs in praise of Lord Krishna, cultural programmes, etc.
