Why Indian Bride Always Wear? Why We Consider Red Color As Auspisious?

Here we discuss the significance of red color in Indian Fashion.

The red color is an auspicious color in Indian culture and liked by both men and women alike. In Hindu customs and beliefs, red color plays an instrumental role and is one of the most important colors used in ceremonies especially in the life of a married woman. It is greatly said that the color of love is red but remember the color of your destiny is also red. Red is a significant color and has various surprising secrets along with it. Red color creates positive energy which instigates the libido. A bride wears everything in red during marriage and the arrival stirs the sensuality in humans.

Red is considered holy and is symbolic to a certain place, time and action in one’s life. The arrival of a girl into the role of a married woman is denoted by the red henna on her hands and she is pinched with red powder sindoor on her head. The promise of togetherness and matrimonial bliss are mixed with the warmth and binding power of the red drape and red accessories. The entry of the bride into her new home after marriage is by the ritual of dipping her feet in red water and walk bare feet on the floor of the house to symbolize the beginning of her new role. Red is thus a dominating shade in the Hindu weddings. Red is one of the most powerful symbols of leaving behind one’s adolescence and stepping into womanhood and later motherhood.

Wedding invitation cards is incomplete unless it is colored red on the corners. Housewives in various parts of India, clean their house and outside and make beautiful rangoli in the entrance of the house with white color. On special festivals like Sankranthi, Diwali, etc. they make a special rangoli with red color as the central color.

Cinema in India shows the home gown custom of Indian brides decorated in red bangles and saris. Red Vermillion is used as a ritual mark while greeting guests or family members at a festival or simply into your house.

Red tilak is used as a symbol of blessing from an elderly to a youngster in most of the customary functions. Tilak is placed exactly where the third eye of Lord Shiva, the destroyer is said to be. Tilak signifies that one gains the all-pervading powers to protect the inner wisdom.

Red tilak is a small tapering red mark on the forehead of a man wishing him good luck in a war or day-to-day life in a modern context. The red dot on the forehead of a woman symbolizes of her being carried along with the red sindoor in the partition of her hair just above the forehead. Sindoor is the symbol of Goddess Parvati or Sati as per the popular Indian beliefs. The house of Aries is on the forehead according to Hindu Astrology. The lord of Aries is Mars and the color of Mars is Red and it is believed to be auspicious. Red is a sign of soubhagya or good fortune. Red rose petals and rice grains with a sprinkling of Vermilion are showered on any auspicious occasion like a marriage of any puja to signify purity and continuity of health and wealth.

Grandparents call their favorite grandchildren as ‘Mera Lal” meaning my son. But if we literally translate the meaning it would mean my red. You might have seen that lot of people will have Lal as their middle name meaning Red. In India, this red shows a lot of symbolism for the Hindus.

In India, the real understanding of the importance of Red color started at the time when the earliest scriptures were written by the Vedic sages. Rig Veda states that the Chariot of Sun is pulled by 7 horses and we all know that the Sunlight is composed of seven colors of Rainbow. The colors of the rainbow are denoted by the formula like VIBGYOR. The colors are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow and red. Red is the foundation of all colors as per Chandrashekhar limit, a star at the end of its life evolves into a Red Giant before becoming a white dwarf.

In Sanskrit, the word red and blood is the same, ‘Rakta’. Rakta means blood which is the existence of life in our bodies hence divine. Blood or Rakta does not signify violence but it signifies the divine and life-giving properties of blood or color red. There is no wonder that those who are healthy irrespective of their race or color have a reddish glow on their face, due to the abundance of iron in their blood. Red color helps in increasing hunger pranks and hence restaurants are usually decorated in red.

The red color is the color of fire and blood and is associated with energy, war, danger, power, determination as well as passion, desire and love. The color is an emotionally intense color which enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate and raises blood pressure. Red color has high visibility and this is the reason it can be seen to stop signs, stoplights and fire equipment. Red is used to indicate courage in heraldry. You can also find red color in many of the national flags.

Text and images can be brought to the foreground by red color. It is used as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions. In internet banners and websites it is a perfect color for ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Click Here’ buttons. To evoke erotic feelings (red nails, red lips, red-light districts, ‘Lady in Red’, etc.) is used in advertising. To indicate the danger of high voltage signs, traffic lights red color is used. To promote energy drinks, cars, games, items related to sports and high physical activity, the red color is associated with energy.

When it comes to color psychology, red can be seen as a bold and powerful color. If you are wearing red then you might expect it to have unconscious psychological effects on you. Someone has rightly said that Red is physical and (seeing it) acts on you physically as it raises your pulse rate and your blood pressure. The impression is created that time is passing faster than it is. The universal stimulus applies to everybody across the whole world.

Red is said to be the color of aggression and passion. It is great for a first date but not so great for the office. Red looks bit hostile in the work environment hence one should think twice before wearing it to office.

Also Read: Role Of Indian Ethnic Wear Compared To Western Dress