Colour Red and its Importance

Colour Red and its Importance

Have you ever thought why the sindoor is red? Or why is the bride asked to wear red? Is RED simply a noun, an adjective, or a more importantly a color. In fact come to think of most of the nation’s flags color have red on them!
Red roses, red wine, red bricks everywhere you look red is there everywhere! Any artist worth his/her salt will make sure to use this primary color. Red nowadays is popularly associated with Valentine’s Day, and is the lucky color for the zodiacs Aries and Scorpio.

Even sunrise and sunset has red! The list of where red is found is pretty long but the question is how popular and where is it popular? Amazingly once upon a time the color was associated with devil worship. The color red plays a pivotal role in Eastern culture, especially the Hindu culture.

Red is used quite liberally in Indian wedding right from saris to bangles, from Sindoor to greeting people with a tilak. Why isn’t a tilak black or purple? Talking of the sindoor, let’s forget the sindoor the Ekta Kapoor serial leads wear. Indian customs and culture are often. But red is the dominant one. This color still stands true to its meaning and is still used almost liberally and vastly in the Indian culture be it any auspicious occasion it has to be marked with red. Red in India is considered holy and is symbolic of a certain time, place and action in one’s personal life. While it may differ across religious sects in India, the overall implications of the color are universal.

The color red has its own significance in every country and every religion. Red symbolizes festivity and good will in China whereas mourning in South Africa, remember Shakira in “Waka waka”? In India is symbolizes purity and veracity. Hence the sindoor holds a very important stance in the Hindu wedding. Each custom and tradition of the Indian wedding has its own story and magnitude. I think we Indians believe in God way too much.
The color red holds a very dominating and auspicious pedestal in Indian customs and tradition. It’s simply irreplaceable. You cannot imagine the celebration and fun of an Indian wedding without the color red. Be it the Sari or the Lehenga, the bride herself or her cousins and aunts all are dressed in jolts of reds and similar colors for the weddings in India. Even the flowers used in the weddings tend to be more of the red roses and carnations. Let alone the flowers in the weddings, red roses have the highest demand these days. Red symbolizes love and happiness; remember Priety Zintas red dress in Kal Ho Naa Ho.

bridal mehndi design

The Lehenga, the Choora, the mangalsutra, the ghoongat are all fine but have you ever though of experimenting with the sindoor? Think of a purple, blue or green sindoor. Impossible imagining right? The sindoor simply signifies and symbolizes Indian heritage and culture. None of the countries have something like this to signify marital relation. Think of the Americans, Chinese or the Egyptians.

The sindoor on the forehead of a woman differentiates a married woman from the unmarried ones. Red being the color love, happiness and love is befitted for the marital relation. It works as an element of honor and power. It is believed that the husband’s life is directly proportional to the length of the sindoor. Please check Suhana’s sindoor in “Sasuraal Genda Phool”, such an insult to the tradition.

The darker and deeper the color of the sindoor the life of the husband is directly correlating to it. Although it is purely mythological, we Indians follow it with great Pride and serenity. The best place to see the prominent and respected sindoor is on the foreheads of the rural women, they simply keep up the beauty of the customs and tradition.
The first mark of the sindoor on the wedding day marks the beginning of a new relation. Although now day’s women do not wear long and wide sindoor they wear a dignified short one on regular basis.

mauli

It’s not just the sindoor which is red, but the tilak, the bindi, the Lehenga, the bangles, the ghooghat are all red for an Indian wedding.  Red is also said to have promotes sexual increase (so if you want have peak performance in the sack then paint your bedroom RED!!) Red in mythology denotes strength bravery and protection. The color being such a dynamic one it commands awe and respect.

red-roses
red roses

The color red, rules Indian wedding and prominently irrespective of the caste, sect and religion. The mehendi of the bride is also red; the auspiciousness of the color is beyond words. Ever imagined, why do people use red flower to propose rather than yellow or pink? Or why are red heart shaped balloons sold on valentines day and not any other colored?

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15 thoughts on “Colour Red and its Importance

  1. i think it’s conditioning. we cannot imagine a different coloured sindoor or wedding dress simply because that’s what we’ve grown up to see. look at catholic weddings. they wear neither red nor heavy makeup. they wear white, something that the rest of us associate with mourning.

    but red does invoke passion. it makes you feel powerful and strong. wearing red seems bold because it’s a strong colour. same can be said for bright pinks, yellows and purples. we think a lot before wearing those colours too, don’t we? why such importance to the colour red?

    i can’t wear red lipstick till the time i get married. i’m allowed to wear everything else. i doubt my parents will bat their lids even if i wear black, but red, no i can’t wear that. it’s for married women.

    interesting post. there’s scope for debate!
    .-= Rima Kaur´s last blog ..Beneath The Smiles =-.

    1. Hi Rima,

      Deep thoughts…but I just wanna highlight..why red is the chosen one>

      See as u said you cannot wear red lipstick till you get married…kyun? I mean there are celebrities puting with red,,and even common women do.. I simply want to illustrate that red has a very deep connection with the human brain….hence we assoicate and react to the color in various ways.which we dont with other colors.

  2. I couldn’t agree more with every single word you said :yes:
    It’s funny how red lips before marriage are seen as coquettish and are nothing but appropriate and expected after.

  3. Zeeba in my family you *HAVE* to wear red during pheras. You can wear any other color before or after that! I love red and have always associated the color with matrimony (more than I have associated it with love…)
    I pretty much think red is the color of life, because the (oxygenated) blood that flows through us is the same color! 😛

  4. I love Red too :inlove: :inlove: :inlove:
    In our caste, we are allowed to wear any color (except white & black) on our wedding day.That’s why i am not really looking forward to wearing Red in my own wedding.
    Btw, love your writing stle Zeeba :yes:

    1. Thanks Insiya,,,

      there are so many better alternatives to red…but then majority of the Indians chose red over other colors…and may be even I would pick a red lehenga….atleast for some part of my wedding(long time to go for it though) 😛

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