Gulal
The coloured powder thrown and smeared during the Hindu festival of Holi.
Also: abir, Holi colour
Gulal is a fine, dry powder in pink, red, yellow, green, blue and purple. In the past it was made from plants: the orange-red flowers of the flame of the forest tree, turmeric, indigo, and leaves and barks. Most gulal today is starch or mineral powder with synthetic colour. Some cheap kinds have caused skin and eye irritation, and safer herbal and food-grade powders are widely sold in response. The word is also used at weddings, temple festivals and political victory parades, when faces are smeared in celebration.