Sindoor – An Age Old Tradition or Something More

We are so familiar with this famous dialogue from Om shanti om, "ek chutki sindoor ki kimat tum kya jano Ramesh babu.” Well this ek chutki has a lot of significance in our Indian tradition. Most Hindu weddings are not complete without the groom applying the Vermilion along the parting of bride's hair (Maang). The sindoor is considered as a blessing for the bride as the red color of sindoor indicates flowing blood, rejuvenating life especially of her husband. It is believed to protect her husband from evil and is considered so auspicious that for the longevity of her husband's life, the wife applies sindoor in her hair parting every single day till the time she remains married and her husband is living. In fact, application of sindoor is one of those things which is supported by both mythology and science. In Hindu tradition, it is commonly believed that Goddess Parvati used to apply sindoor in her hair partition. And as red color emancipates power, applying sindoor invokes shakti, i.e Parvati who is believed to protect the life of all husbands whose wives put sindoor on their head. As per Ramayana, Sita Ji used to put Sindoor to please Sri Ram. Even Hanuman ji started applying sindoor on his body to please his prabhu Sri Ram and that is the reason why even today, devotees offer sindoor on Hanuman idols. In fact, there is a famous aarti in Marathi “Sindoor Lal Chadhayo Gajamukha Ko” which indicates that sindoor is offered to Ganesh ji as well. Rooted in these mythological aspects, this tradition has a long history. Archaelogical excavations in Mehrgarh suggest that this ritual was also performed over 5000 years ago. Female figurines at this Harappan site were found with sindoor in their hair partition. This ritual is also mentioned in the Puranas, Lalitha Sahasranama and Soundarya Lahari. However, there is also a scientific aspect to this ... https://www.shimply.com/articles/sindoor-an-age-old-tradition-or-something-more/

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