The Color Red In India

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The significance of the colour red in India
By:Srigauri Jagannath (1522)
Red is a very auspicious color in Indian culture. Red is dynamic and constantly breathing fire in the eyes of the beholder. It incites fear and is the colour associated with one of the most revered goddesses in Hindu mythology – Durga. Her fiery image is enhanced by her red tongue and almost red eyes. Red also stands for purity and is the preferred colour for a bride’s garment. Red has a deep meaning in the Indian psyche. It is the colour of the fertile clay that reaps harvests and better lives and is used widely in prayer ceremonies and offerings. And India could hardly be celebrated as the land of spices without its most feisty ingredient — chillies. And while red symbolizes fertility and purity, it also connotes a certain sensuousness and demands positive energy.
The colour red has played an instrumental role in Hindu customs and beliefs, perhaps the most ceremonious one being in the life of a married woman.A girl’s arrival into her role as the married woman is symbolized by the almost red henna on her hands and is sealed with the pinch of red powder sindoor on her head.Matrimonial bliss and a promise of togetherness are all sealed by the warmth and binding power of the red drape and red accessories. The bride’s first step into her new home is characterized by the ritual of her having to dip her feet in red water and walk bare feet on the floor of the house to symbolize the beginning of her new