In Pliny’s time, indigo would probably be shipped to the Roman port of Ostia in the form of hard cakes. It actually comes from a bush with small green leaves that when dried and fermented in a dye vat look pretty scummy, which explains the misunderstanding. He suggested that the dye was a kind of slime sticking to the scum on river reeds. the Roman historian Pliny the Elder wrote about “indicum, a production of India,” which “yields a marvelous combination of purple and cerulean. In addition to being associated with the gods, blue-through the indigo dye-is also historically linked with India. His name means “dark,” and like Vishnu he is portrayed with blue skin. So blue is a reminder that evil exists but can be contained, through courage and right actions. One name for him is Nilakantha, the blue-necked one, because of a story that he drank a pot of poison to save creation. Vishnu spends eternity sleeping, until when called upon in a crisis, he wakes and like the most powerful of superheroes saves the world. In Hinduism there are three main deities: Brahma the creator, Shiva the destroyer and Vishnu the preserver. Color war face paint ideas driver#Like that of Krishna,” the taxi driver said affably, as he took me back to my hotel. This article is a selection from our Smithsonian Journeys Travel QuarterlyĮxplore India’s vibrant history, picturesque locales and delicious eats Buy They are not just pretty: In India they have meaning. With its gorgeous textiles, exotic flowers, exuberant advertising billboards, hand-painted rickshaws and trucks covered with lights, patterns and brightly painted pictures of gods, India is one of the most colorful places on the planet.īut there’s something else to know about colors here. After that, nothing was off-limits-legs, arms, hair, clothes-everything was a potential canvas. I returned the favor with a handful of pink. But then a girl in a blue-splattered sari ran up giggling and smeared paint on my face. To be inside the tinted mist was to enter a delightful, unpredictable world, filled with contagious laughter.Īt first people politely avoided the foreigner. But the gloom was lifted by exuberant puffs of pink, blue and green. It was mostly yellow, a medieval painting of hell with figures vaguely visible through sulfurous fog. The tub of crimson powder the driver handed me was almost fluorescent holding this as my weapon of choice, I walked into the Holi smoke. Traditionally the colors used in Holi came from flowers and herbs-which in the hot climate of India tend to produce bright natural dyes-but today they’re usually synthetic. The story represents the fun and flirtatiousness of the gods but also touches on deeper themes: of the passing of the seasons and the illusory nature of the material world. It is also said to be the enactment of a game the Hindu god Lord Krishna played with his consort Radha and the gopis, or milkmaids. Holi represents the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil. You can have some gladly, to join in our customs.” “And I have some powder I bought for my children. “No, madam, I have a cloth for just this exact purpose,” he said. “Or will I make your taxi dirty when I get back in?” I was happy for my clothes to be permanently splattered. A Forbes study in 2009, which compared corporate logo colors in India with international brands, suggested that black is the one color that companies in India assiduously avoid. In the caste, or “varna,” system (which in Sanskrit translates as the “color” system), it is usually associated with the lowest categories of social classes, and can be viewed as unlucky. I was wearing black, a color rarely seen in India. “And you might be having purple hair for many days. “The colors never come out of your clothes,” he said. “Watch out, madam!” said my taxi driver in Amritsar as we drove through a melee of young people pelting each other with powder. It’s hard to avoid the fun-and paint-unless you stay inside or look menacing enough to discourage the custom. That’s because for a few days in spring, people crowd the streets and splash brilliantly colored dyes on anyone walking by. If you land in India anytime in late February or March, it’s wise to check the dates of the annual Holi festival, and bring a spare set of clothes.
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