Sindoor and Kumkum are the titles of orange-red, red, or vermillion colored powder essentially used as a cosmetic in Hindu Tradition. Sindoor and Kumkum are prominently used for religious purposes, including applying Tilak. It’s an essential element while worshipping Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

Generally, in India, regularly married women apply sindoor parting to their hair. However, the manner of applying sindoor is different from region to regional customs. For example, Bengali women and also women from North regions fill their entire hairline with sindoor.

Besides, an unmarried woman can wear the sindoor as a dot or Bindi on her forehead. And the core component of modern traditional sindoor is primarily turmeric.

Significance of applying sindoor in the Hindu community:

In Hindu communities, wearing the sindoor on the hairline indicates a woman is married and ceasing to touch it generally symbolizes widowhood. This practice is chiefly related to wearing Mangalsutra and holds the same traditional significance.

Different Hindu scriptures often mention the use of sindoor, including the great Mahabharata, Adi Shankaracharya’s Soundarya Lahari, and Lalitha Sahashranama.

The prime element of sindoor originally comes from the Sindoor tree and later fused with turmeric and lime extracts, from which it gets its medicinal properties. The currently marketed commercial Sindoor shouldn’t be used as it holds several chemical and synthetic dyes compounds.

Most importantly, In India, there are two famous festivals dedicated to wearing sindoor to honor this practice; One is “Sindoor Khela,” observe on Vijayadashami by Bengali married women, and another is Haldi-Kumkum celebrated by Marathi married women. There is a solid belief that Sindoor is actually the marital representation of Goddess Shakti – the female form of energy.

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