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Journalism of Courage
With Holi set to be celebrated on Monday (March 25), balloons filled with coloured water will be hurled as part of the celebrations for many people across the country. However, in some parts of Rajasthan’s Jaipur, an old tradition will play out where colours will be thrown through a unique medium called the “Gulaal Gota”, dating back around 400 years.
A Gulaal Gota is a small ball made of lac, filled with dry gulaal. Weighing around 20 grams when filled with gulaal, these balls are thrown at people on Holi, getting smashed to bits on impact.
Local artisans say that making Gulaal Gotas involves first boiling the lac in water to make it flexible. Lac is a resinous substance that is secreted by certain insects. It is also used to make bangles.
After shaping the lac, colour is added to it. At first red, yellow, and green are added as other colours can be obtained through their combinations. After the processing is done, artisans heat the lac. It is then blown into a spherical shape with the help of a blower called “phunkni”.
Then, gulaal is filled in the balls before they are sealed with lac.
Lac is brought from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. As per the Chhattisgarh State Skill Development Authority’s website, the female scale insect is one of the sources of lac. To produce 1 kg of lac resin, around 300,000 insects are killed. The lac insects also yield resin, lac dye and lac wax.
Gulaal is usually purchased from the market.
Gulaal Gotas are made by Muslim lac makers, called Manihaars, only in Jaipur.
According to Awaz Mohammad, a Gulaal Gota maker who has received an award from the President of India, manihaars’ ancestors were shepherds and horse traders who arrived from Afghanistan. They settled in Bagru, a town located close to Jaipur, and learnt lac-making from Hindu lac makers or Lakhere.
The city of Jaipur was established in 1727. Its founder Sawai Jai Singh II, an admirer of art, dedicated a lane at the Tripoliya Bazaar to the Manihaar community, naming it “Manihaaron ka Raasta”. This is where lac bangles, jewellery, and Gulaal Gota are mostly sold, to date.
Artisans say that in older times, kings would ride through the city on elephant backs on Holi and toss Gulaal Gotas to the public. The erstwhile royal family is also known to order Gulaal Gota at its palace for the festival.
What is the economics of this tradition?
One box of six Gulaal Gota balls is sold for Rs 150, which is much costlier than water balloons. Usually, the whole family of artisans is engaged in this work, including women. These are sent to be sold in different parts of the country, such as Vrindavan. Preparation to complete the orders begins three months before Holi.
For Manihaars, lac bangles are the main source of sustenance as making Gulaal Gota is a seasonal work. Artisans say that the bangles are eco-friendly as they are made without any chemicals.
However, Jaipur has of late become a hub of many factories where cheap, chemical-based bangles are made with minimum lac, even causing skin allergies in some cases. Original lac bangles are costlier than the manufactured ones. Hence, the demand for lac-only bangles has fallen.
What does the future look like for this work?
The government of India has given “artisan cards” to the lac bangle and Gulaal Gota makers, allowing them to avail benefits from government schemes.
Many artisans have gone to different parts of the world to showcase their art. Awaz Mohammad, for instance, was invited to put up a shop at the G20 summit in New Delhi last year, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries appreciated him for his unique talent.
In a bid to save the tradition, some Gulaal Gota makers have demanded a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. A GI tag can help boost the awareness of a product and highlight its location-specific exclusivity. It also helps original creators safeguard their products against imitation.
Awaz says that a lack of unity among the manihaars has prevented further action on raising this demand. Many of the community’s younger members are also more interested in taking up blue-collar jobs instead of artisan work.
