Traditional Dress
Bindi
What is the bindi?
By bindi I’m referring to that red dot seen most commonly decorating the foreheads of Indian women, or to be more precise by Hindu women. Because of the many dialects spoken throughout India, bindis are otherwise known by many other names including bottu, kumkum, pottu, sindoor, teep, tikli, tika, tilak, tilaka, and tilakam.
The word “bindi” comes from the word “bindu” which means “drop” or “dot” in Sanskrit; an apt description of this spot of colour.
Why do Indians wear bindis? What is the bindi meaning?
There are an abundance of theories regarding the meaning behind the ancient tradition of wearing a bindi. Here are some of the theories unravelling the mystery of the Indian forehead spot:
Theory 1: A remnant of an old Aryan marriage tradition
Although the bindi is worn on an everyday basis by many women, it is also worn in the Hindu marriage ceremony. After marriage many women choose to wear a red bindi which has led to the misconception that it is only married Hindu women who wear one. In fact this isn’t the case and although perhaps married women wear them most often, the bindi can be worn by men and women, single or not.
Why the association of wearing a bindi with marriage? One theory goes back to around 1500BCE, at the time when a light-skinned Indo-European race called the Aryans, are said to have conquered India. One of the alleged Aryan wedding traditions was for the marriage to be sealed with blood: The groom would apply a drop of his own blood onto his new bride’s forehead as part of the ceremony. The theory is that over time this tradition was modified to apply red powder instead of blood. This ancient marriage-association of the red spot may explain the tradition of there being a high prevalence of married women wearing a red spot on their forehead.
It is interesting to note that Korean weddings also have a similar tradition of the bride wearing a decorative forehead spot. The origin of this tradition is unclear but some sources suggest that Aryans may have reached some Korean settlements at some point in history.(1)
Theory 2: It is worn to strengthen the brow chakra
Around 3000BC, the seers of ancient India wrote the scriptures known as the Vedas, and in these they described the existence of areas of concentrated energy within the energy field of the human body. These energy centers were named “chakras”. There are seven main chakras that run along the center of the body, and the sixth one (called the “brow chakra”, ajna, or “third eye chakra”) occurs exactly where the bindi is placed.
Theory 3: Ancient practice of differentiating different castes or groups
One theory is that the bindi was used to help distinguish between different castes. The Indian caste system is a social stratification that generally categorizes people by their ancestral’s professions, denoting if they came from a line of scholars, warriors, farmers, artisans and so on
Theory 4: Bindi are simply a body decoration fashion statement
Whilst it is likely that the bindi has more meaning than being a body ornament alone, for some people today it serves the purpose of beautification more than anything else. This is especially the case when worn by Westerners who have not been educated in the Vedic scriptures.
Saree
https://factsfashion.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/the-sari-meanings-behind-the-cloth/
http://www.shalusharma.com/what-do-indians-wear/
Jewellery
http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/culture/why-do-women-wear-bangles/
http://www.culturalindia.net/jewellery/significance.html
Bindi
What is the bindi?
By bindi I’m referring to that red dot seen most commonly decorating the foreheads of Indian women, or to be more precise by Hindu women. Because of the many dialects spoken throughout India, bindis are otherwise known by many other names including bottu, kumkum, pottu, sindoor, teep, tikli, tika, tilak, tilaka, and tilakam.
The word “bindi” comes from the word “bindu” which means “drop” or “dot” in Sanskrit; an apt description of this spot of colour.
Why do Indians wear bindis? What is the bindi meaning?
There are an abundance of theories regarding the meaning behind the ancient tradition of wearing a bindi. Here are some of the theories unravelling the mystery of the Indian forehead spot:
Theory 1: A remnant of an old Aryan marriage tradition
Although the bindi is worn on an everyday basis by many women, it is also worn in the Hindu marriage ceremony. After marriage many women choose to wear a red bindi which has led to the misconception that it is only married Hindu women who wear one. In fact this isn’t the case and although perhaps married women wear them most often, the bindi can be worn by men and women, single or not.
Why the association of wearing a bindi with marriage? One theory goes back to around 1500BCE, at the time when a light-skinned Indo-European race called the Aryans, are said to have conquered India. One of the alleged Aryan wedding traditions was for the marriage to be sealed with blood: The groom would apply a drop of his own blood onto his new bride’s forehead as part of the ceremony. The theory is that over time this tradition was modified to apply red powder instead of blood. This ancient marriage-association of the red spot may explain the tradition of there being a high prevalence of married women wearing a red spot on their forehead.
It is interesting to note that Korean weddings also have a similar tradition of the bride wearing a decorative forehead spot. The origin of this tradition is unclear but some sources suggest that Aryans may have reached some Korean settlements at some point in history.(1)
Theory 2: It is worn to strengthen the brow chakra
Around 3000BC, the seers of ancient India wrote the scriptures known as the Vedas, and in these they described the existence of areas of concentrated energy within the energy field of the human body. These energy centers were named “chakras”. There are seven main chakras that run along the center of the body, and the sixth one (called the “brow chakra”, ajna, or “third eye chakra”) occurs exactly where the bindi is placed.
Theory 3: Ancient practice of differentiating different castes or groups
One theory is that the bindi was used to help distinguish between different castes. The Indian caste system is a social stratification that generally categorizes people by their ancestral’s professions, denoting if they came from a line of scholars, warriors, farmers, artisans and so on
Theory 4: Bindi are simply a body decoration fashion statement
Whilst it is likely that the bindi has more meaning than being a body ornament alone, for some people today it serves the purpose of beautification more than anything else. This is especially the case when worn by Westerners who have not been educated in the Vedic scriptures.
Saree
https://factsfashion.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/the-sari-meanings-behind-the-cloth/
http://www.shalusharma.com/what-do-indians-wear/
Jewellery
http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/culture/why-do-women-wear-bangles/
http://www.culturalindia.net/jewellery/significance.html