Crimson & Blue & Hot Pink

Crimson is the lal gulal — the deep vivid crimson of the lal rang (लाल रंग — 'red color') gulal (गुलाल — the specifically red Holi powder, traditionally made from dried flower petals of the Palash tree — Butea monosperma — the 'Flame of the Forest' — a flowering tree native to South and Southeast Asia that produces vivid orange-red flowers used as a natural dye for Holi powder). The Palash flower: Butea monosperma (Palash — पलाश — also: Tesu — टेसू — Sanskrit: Kimshuka — 'parrot flower' — because the specific orange-red flower shaped like a parrot's beak) blooms in February-March — just before the Holi season — producing the most spectacular and most coloristically vivid flowering display of any large deciduous tree in North India. The traditional Holi Palash dye: the dried Palash flowers produce a vivid orange-to-crimson natural dye when boiled in water, which was historically the most important source of the red-to-crimson Holi powder. Contemporary gulal: since approximately the mid-20th century, most gulal (both red and other colors) is made from synthetic dye pigments (rhodamine B for hot pink and red; auramine O for yellow; malachite green for green; brilliant blue for blue), which are more vivid, more lightfast, and far less expensive than natural flower-based dyes — but which raise health concerns because many synthetic dye pigments are skin irritants and some (particularly rhodamine B and auramine O) are classified as possible carcinogens. Blue is the divine blue of Krishna — the pure electric blue of Krishna's skin in Vaishnavite iconography (Vaishnava — a Hindu who worships Vishnu or one of his avatars — primarily Rama and Krishna — as the supreme deity — the most numerous denomination of Hinduism — approximately 700 million Vaishnavas worldwide, the most numerous Hindu denomination by number). Krishna's blue skin: in the Vaishnava tradition, Lord Krishna (the most beloved and most widely worshipped of the ten avatars of Vishnu — the eighth avatar — appearing in the Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata and specifically in the most celebrated text of the Vaishnava tradition: the Bhagavad Gita — the 700-verse dialogue between Krishna and the warrior Arjuna at the Battle of Kurukshetra) is always depicted with the most specific deep blue-to-blue-black skin. Theological explanation: the blue-black skin of Krishna (nila — dark blue; shyama — dark; or sometimes described in the Puranas as 'the color of the rain cloud' or 'the color of the blue lotus' — nilotpala) is interpreted in different ways by different commentators: (1) The allegorical interpretation: Krishna's blue skin represents his infinite, sky-like divine nature — just as the sky appears blue (and limitless), Krishna's skin represents the infinite, all-pervasive nature of the divine; (2) The historical interpretation: some scholars suggest that the tradition of the 'dark-skinned' avatar reflects the historical memory of a specifically dark-complexioned local deity absorbed into the Vishnu avatar tradition during the early centuries of the Common Era. Hot Pink is the Holi gulal — the electric vivid hot pink of the most vivid Holi powder. The Holi festival: the most ancient and most theologically complex account of Holi's origin involves the story of Holika (a demoness — the sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu — who was immune to fire and who attempted to burn alive the young devotee of Vishnu, Prahlada — but Prahlada's devotion protected him and Holika burned instead — the most dramatic narrative of the triumph of devotion over demonic power in the Vaishnava tradition — commemorated by the Holika Dahan bonfire the night before the main Holi celebration). The most celebrated Holi location: Mathura-Vrindavan (the dual town in Uttar Pradesh — Mathura being the birthplace of Krishna and Vrindavan the site of his most celebrated pastoral adventures with the gopis — the cowherd women — including the Raas Leela, the most celebrated divine dance in all Vaishnava theology) is considered the most spiritually important and most festively spectacular location for Holi — the Lathmar Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon (the specific villages associated with the gopi Radha and Krishna respectively) and the flower-petal Holi of the Vrindavan temples are the most sought-after Holi experiences for pilgrims and tourists from throughout the world.