Vibhuti-Holy Ash & Bindu

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Namaste Narasimhaye,

 

Found this interesting information on the Vibhuti Holy Ash & Bindu from the below weblink and though of sharing with everyone.

 

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/lg/lg_ch-12.html

 

Jai Ganesha

 

 

 

VIBHUTI, HOLY ASH

Holy ash, vibhuti, connotes purity and is a reminder to us of life's precious transitoriness. It is prepared by burning cow dung into a whitish ash. An essential sacrament at Saiva puja, men wear it as the tripundra, a sectarian mark of three lines across the forehead, signifying the burning away of pasha -- the bonds of anava (veil of duality), karma (effects of past deeds) and maya (the world). Women often wear a light film of ash across the forehead. Seen from devonic realms, holy ash has a bright phosphorescent glow, and wearing it helps the devas and the Deities see devotees more clearly.

 

 

 

POTTU OR BINDU, THE FOREHEAD DOT

The bindu, "dot," worn between just below the middle of the forehead, identifies one as a Hindu. It is made of red powder (kunkuma), sandalpaste, clay, cosmetics or other substances. Mystically it represents the "third eye," our inner, superconscious vision, which sees what the physical eyes cannot see, reminding us to cultivate our higher spiritual faculties and insight. The bindu (pottu in Tamil) is also a beauty mark for Hindu women, the color red generally a sign of marriage. Unmarried women usually wear a small black pottu with a short horizontal stroke of vibhuti just above.