What is Bindi?

[JaneSmith105]

Far from being a personal style statement, the Bindi is essentially a sacred symbol in India. It is exclusively worn by women to signify one of the seven chakras. Most people assume that it only represents a woman’s marital bond, which is just one part of its overall significance.

Often recognized as a red dot between the eyebrows on the forehead, the Bindi, or ‘Bindu’ is Sanskrit for ‘particle’ or ‘drop’. Alternative names include bottu, sindoor, tikli, kumkum, and teep.

 

[buzzo 1982]

A bindi is a colored dot, commonly and traditionally worn by the Hindu and Jain women in Southeast Asia, on the center of their forehead. The earliest mention of “bindi” is found in the ancient Sanskrit text, Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda, as "bindu." Thus, it can be said that that the modern word ‘bindi’ traces its origin from the Sanskrit word’ bindu’ mean dot, point, drop, or small particle.