Creating rangoli is considered a very auspicious event on Diwali, so people decorate the entrances and rooms of their homes. Although markets offer expensive rangoli colors during Diwali, there is no need to buy them in a store; you can prepare natural dyes from ingredients already at home, and this does not take much time.
Rangoli color packets can cost around 100–200 rupees during festivals, which sometimes discourages people from making rangoli. However, now you can use homemade ingredients to prepare colors that will be very beneficial and will not cause any side effects on the skin. Below is a simple way to prepare such colors that will not require additional expenses.
How to make rangoli colors:
Yellow color from turmeric
The yellow shade looks very beautiful in rangoli. To obtain it, you will need turmeric available in the kitchen. Take turmeric powder into a bowl and mix it with a small amount of rice flour or wheat flour. This will lighten the color of the turmeric and allow you to get a sufficient amount of powder for creating rangoli. You can also add a little gram flour (besan).
Pink color from beetroot
If you want to get a pink or light red color for rangoli, beetroot is suitable. You need to grate the beetroot and squeeze out the juice. Then gradually mix this juice with rice flour. After that, thoroughly dry the mixture, remove lumps, and strain it. As a result, you will get a pink powder. It is important to ensure that it is completely dry before using it in rangoli.
Green color from spinach
To create green color, you can use spinach leaves. Wash the spinach thoroughly and squeeze out the juice. Then mix this juice with rice flour and dry it well in the sun. After drying, strain the mixture to get a light green color. Alternatively, for a green shade, you can use finely ground dried leaves.
Brown color from coffee
Coffee powder is a good alternative for coloring rangoli brown. Add a little rice flour or wheat flour to the coffee powder to increase the volume of the color and simplify the process of creating rangoli. To get lighter or darker brown shades, you can vary the ratio of coffee to flour.
Saffron/Red color from kumkum
If you need saffron or red color for rangoli, you can use kumkum kept at home. It can be mixed with rice flour to get a light shade. In this case, you should use kumkum that is safe for skin contact and does not contain harmful chemicals.
White color from rice flour
White color is used in rangoli to highlight patterns, and for this, you do not need to buy anything from the store. You can use rice flour or finely ground rice that you have at home. Strain it before use so that the patterns are clean.
Blue color from Aparajita flowers
To get blue color, you can use Aparajita flowers. Dry the flowers, grind them into powder, and then mix them with rice flour. This may give a light blue shade, but due to its natural origin, the color may not be bright.
