What the...? Strange questions for India experts

Nick-H

If one could see and touch it, the answer would be immediately obvious. Rangoli (here we call it Kolam) powders will be gritty and chalky.

My vote is that that is what the second photo is too, the first being correctly described, definitely, I can tell from the stall.

I don't think it is dye, for the main reason, that I have never seen heaps of dye for sale; home dying is just not popular, and I have never seen dyes for sale.

On a different market stall, the piles of red and yellow powders would be kumkum and turmeric for putting on the forehead. Not so gritty!

Steven, I've already answered your question about the few, old-fashioned women who put tumeric on their skin.

(Sheesh, these members that ask the same question over and over again. Where's Mach?)*

*private joke for the mod team

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Aishah

Those coloured powders certainly aren't sherbert! They are dyes, and can be used in Holi to colour water or just throw around dry. Most are chemical dyes and not particularly 'safe'. Also used in puja activities for dots on foreheads etc. You sometimes see little dishes of them in puja corners in houses or at the base of special trees etc.

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Nick-H

Oh, Holi!

Of course! Not such a big thing in Southern India.

But I still feel ashamed of my ignorance there!

AvidTrekker

The dyes are carcinogenic. Some women who have put "dots on foreheads" for some longish period of time have ended up with skin cancer. Many more with a leucoderma-like discoloured patch. Natural turmeric based kumkum ONLY is recommended for the "dots".

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Nick-H

Thanks for the caution!

I understand there are other ways in which Holi can be injurious to the health .

kristinm

Answer it again.... I want to know now

amyl

Am an Indian but I still have many questions about it.....yea strange. Strange that I still do not know their answers. Never chased them actually but they are there.


Nice thread btw....was thinking on the similar lines.


What do the sadhus(some, not all though) use on their hair to make them look like thick ropes coming out of their skulls.....some kinda gel? What makes a bunch of hair stick together and what makes bunches not stick together? If washed do they separate? Do such rope-haired sadhus take bath at all?

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Aishah

Well, Amyl, since my daughter had hair like that at one time I can tell you it's just a matter of matting it up in 'ropes'. Once done, it is practically impossible to get it undone except by cutting it all short and then combing (a long process) it all out again. She used to wash it regularly but actually I'm not sure how good that sort of hairwash was. Rastafarian dreadlocks? Is that what we are talking about with the sadhus? All looks the same to me. I would think many kinds of creatures have a home in that head of hair!!

Nick-H

Turmeric-yellowed faces

I think someone has already touched on the true purpose of turmeric-stained skin.

It is believed to protect and preserve the skin. It is an antiseptic, I think, and it it is thought to protect against damage by the strong sun.

It is a cosmetic.

Even in the past few years the number of women I see using this on their skin has diminished to almost none. Maybe if I go hang around some of the more traditional streets of Mylapore I'll be able to find one or two.

Aishah

Turmeric is a common ingredient in many moisturising creams on sale here.

steven_ber

I had been told (by an local) that when a woman covered herself in turmeric powder, it was to warn everyone that it was her time of the month, I was furious, and this was one of the things that contributed to my feeling of disillusionment on my last trip.

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Prashant.M

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this. Maybe I will do both and get carted off in a strait jacket; to a saner place!

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nayan

Turmeric is used all over India as a beauty aide. Both urban and rural women use them regularly as a component of face packs.
There is a ceremony just before the wedding in which the bride and the groom are smeared in turmeric.

amyl

Boy!! That must be a determined mind to go for it in the first place.

ananth_tm

I've heard that turmeric powder can prevent the growth of facial hair.