On the eve of Holi in Udaipur, Subash Chowk, a prominent intersection surrounded by luxury hotels, is transformed. Bhajans and Bollywood songs blare from speakers and firecrackers fly into the sky. In the centre stands tall the Holika Dahan, a 50-foot-high tree sheathed in hay and set ablaze, sending tongues of flame leaping over a two-storey building. Locals and tourists alike throng the chowk to catch a glimpse. They circle the bonfire and celebrate a mythological victory of good over evil. This is one of Udaipur’s main attractions for Holi.
Central to the Holika Dahan festivities is the silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba L.), known locally as semal. Traditionally, the debarked stem or branch of a semal tree is used as the bonfire’s main pillar. “It is astonishing to see the ecologically important semal tree sobbing in Udaipur’s tallest Holika Dahan. Its roots, fruits, seeds, stem, stem bark, and gum are all medicinally valuable,” Vartika Jain, an assistant professor at the Government Meera Girls’ College, Udaipur, wrote recently on the ‘Semal Conservation Mission’ Facebook group.
In 2009, Dr. Jain co-authored a paper reporting that around 1,500-2,000 trees or branches of semal were cut, debarked, and ignited during Holi in the Udaipur district in that year. Dr. Jain’s work suggests the situation is no better in 2024. Large quantities of semal are cut in southern Rajasthan, in places like Bhil and Garasia, and sold in Udaipur. The cutting violates a panoply of laws, from the Rajasthan Forest Act 1953 to the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980. The price varies from Rs 500 to Rs 1500 per tree, depending on its size. Once ubiquitous in the region, the crimson semal flower is now a rare sight.
