The tikka / bindi rests on the face at the sixth chakra, the ajna, and it not only looks gorgeous, but also carries a great deal of significance in tantra. Symbolizing a third eye, it represents insight and the ability to gain control over desire and various other elements within the body. Aligning with the ajna chakra, also means the ability to see into the future, command emotions and unite male and female energies.
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| tantric image of third eye tika |
The tilak also symbolizes the third eye, or mind's eye, associated with many Hindu deities, and the idea of meditation and spiritual enlightenment. In the past, tilakas were usually worn by gods, priests, ascetics, or worshippers, but is now a common practice for most Hindus to adorn themselves at temple visits, on pilgrimages, melas or significant dates. It can express which Hindu tradition one follows. It may be made with sandalwood paste, ashes (vibhuti), kumkum, sindhoor, clay, or other substances. The pastes are applied by a smearing to the forehead and in some cases to the upper part of the head. Occasionally it extends vertically or horizontally on a large part of the forehead and may cover the nose also.
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| sadhu baba with tilak |
Sindoor is the mark of a married woman in Hinduism. Sindoor is a traditional vermillion colored cosmetic powder from the Indian subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the parting of their hair or at the center crown called maang - The parting of hair is symbolic of river of red blood full of life. Usage of sindoor denotes that a woman is married in many Hindu communities, and ceasing to wear it usually implies widowhood.
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| Methods and styles of applying the sindoor vary from personal choice to regional customs. |
This red sindoor is significant for the married woman as she is full of color. It is first applied to the woman by her husband on the day of her wedding.After this time she must apply this every day herself in the parting of her hairline. Single women wear the dot in different colors but do not apply sindoor in their maang. Hindu widows do not wear the sindoor, signifying that their husband is no longer alive. The wiping off of the sindoor is very significant for a widow and there are many rituals associated with this practice; the most common being the mother-in-law or older sister-in-law wiping off the sindoor when the woman becomes a widow. The widow will break her bangles and remove her bindi as well. Many Hindu women will also remove their nose ring and toe rings as well. When she becomes a widow she adopts the white dress and removes all colour from her face including the bright red sindoor.
Known DANGERS of Sindoor:
"Modern sindoor mainly uses vermilion, which is an orange-red pigment. Vermilion is the purified and powdered form of cinnabar, which is the chief form in which mercury sulfide naturally occurs. As with other compounds of mercury, sindoor is toxic and must be handled carefully. Sometimes, red lead (lead tetroxide, also known as minium) is also added to sindoor. Red lead is also toxic and a known carcinogen for laboratory animals, though its carcinogenicity to humans has not been established. Traditional sindoor was made with turmeric andalum or lime, or from other herbal ingredients. Unlike red lead and vermilion, these are not poisonous. In early 2008, allegations of high lead content led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recall batches of Sindoor from several manufacturers."
And here is one from a site that sells vermilion:
"Some authorities consider natural cinnabar to be non-toxic. Anita Albus writes that the deadly poison of mercury becomes harmless when it is stably bound with sulfur. However, we consider cinnabar and vermilion to be toxic and urge caution in handling the dry powder pigment, as well as the pigment dispersed in medium."
So ask yourself the question why nothing is done to safeguard millions of women in india who use this pigment each day to adorn their part? This posting has led me to this info and now I also abandon the use of the red powder pigments for my sindoor unless I can confirm its substance to be non toxic.
