Telangana Governor to Celebrate Eco-Friendly Holi with PJTSAU’s Plant-Based Colours
Retail packs are priced at Rs.25 for 50 grams, Rs.50 for 100 grams, Rs.120 for a 250 gram box containing five equal colours, Rs.245 for 500 grams and Rs.495 for one kilogram. Bulk orders above 50 kilograms are priced at Rs.450 per kg.
Hyderabad: Governor Jishnu Dev Varma will celebrate Holi at Lok Bhavan using plant based colours prepared by Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (PJTSAU) on Tuesday. The initiative began at the university a decade ago.
“We have been preparing natural Holi colours commercially since 2016,” said Dr Lakshmi Pooja, assistant professor in the department of apparel and textiles at the College of Community Science and heads of the natural dye processing and incubation centre.
“We initially developed 14 shades, but based on customer response, we streamlined it to five core colours — orange, yellow, blue, green and pink — that are traditionally used during Holi.”
The ingredients are plant sources long associated with natural dyeing traditions. Orange comes from annatto seeds, which are also used as a food colourant. Yellow is extracted from fresh marigold flowers. Blue is prepared from fermented indigo leaves, the same textile-grade indigo cake historically used for dyeing fabrics. Pink is derived from sappanwood extract, while green is prepared using indigo leaf powder.
“We use starch as the base material,” said Dr Pooja. “The natural colour extracts from plant sources are added to this base. The mixture undergoes grinding, wet processing where required, drying, pulverising and sieving. It is a completely plant based formulation.”
Research on natural dyes at the university predates the Holi product. The natural dye processing and incubation centre was established in 2016 after project work carried out between 2008 and 2013 under a World Bank funded initiative. Dr Pooja was part of that research team and now leads the unit.
Work at the unit extends beyond festival colours. Researchers have developed naturally dyed textiles and water-based paints, including formulations used for Ganesh idols and other absorbent materials.
“Most of our clients place bulk orders,” Dr Pooja said. “The colours are available at our university campus. Our fourth-year students are involved in both production and sales.”
Retail packs are priced at Rs.25 for 50 grams, Rs.50 for 100 grams, Rs.120 for a 250 gram box containing five equal colours, Rs.245 for 500 grams and Rs.495 for one kilogram. Bulk orders above 50 kilograms are priced at Rs.450 per kg.
