Bound By Bindi: Navigating Fashion, Tradition, And The Cultural Appropriation Dialogue

If there’s one Indian accessory that’s really gone global, it has got to be the humble bindi. From a serpent shape to a red circle, to the traditional Marathi crescent moon, to a bejewelled design, to Usha Uthup’s iconic ‘K’, the bindi is an accessory that’s not only continued to be in trend in India but also been widely sported in Hollywood and the West. 

Bindi, or a coloured dot on the forehead, has deep cultural and historical significance. Sociologist Smita Chakraborty said, “The origin of the bindi isn’t actually documented anywhere, but it’s said to have started as a custom during the medieval period.”

Moving away from Sindoor or Alta which have recently started making inroads into the fashion world, the bindi was adopted as a regular fashion accessory a long time ago. However, its use as an element of style has led to a lot of debate and discourse. 

This is The Fashion Reset series, where we trace fashion centrepieces of the subcontinent to their patriarchal roots. We study how these have evolved through cinema and culture, and eventually found a new life or interpretation through the lens of fashion. 

Read: The Allure of Alta: A Symbol of Prosperity, Reimagined As A Fashion Accessory

Significance of the Bindi 

Traditionally worn as a red dot on the forehead, it often signifies a married woman. 

"Bindi" originates from the Sanskrit word "bindu”, which means a point or dot. 

In the Hindu religion, the bindi is also considered the third eye and is believed to protect against misfortune. This ‘third eye’ is also seen as a portal or means of connection with God. There are some religious connotations to this, as a tika applied across the forehead is also commonly seen during festivals and pujas, on both men and women. On babies, black bindis are put to ward off evil luck. 

Another aspect of religious connotations points to the seven chakras in the human body, and wearing a bindi on the ajna chakra, would be associated with helping improve one’s level of meditation or keeping them relaxed. 

The bindi is also part of the Solaha Shringar, or the 16 ornaments that are a mandatory part of a Hindu bride’s trousseau, said to enhance her beauty. 

Roots of the Bindi: Patriarchal and Oppressive 

Bindis, originally, would be the symbol of an ideal Hindu woman. 

“This is an expectation from an ‘ideal woman’, that’s how we’ve been socialised,” said Smita Chakraborty, a sociologist. “It adds to their identity. It’s a statement,” she added.

The colour red, which in Hinduism signifies love and prosperity, led to red bindis pointing to a woman being married. When women were widowed, they would often change their bindi colour to black.

“Traditionally, a widow is restricted from such symbolic statements because now she is equivalent to a vestigial part of the human body,” added Smita. 

The bindi has been associated with various other accounts of oppression. 

Some accounts suggest that after India’s partition, Sindhi migrants in India found themselves in a foreign, unknown community. In Gujarat, where numerous Sindhis found settlements, the bindi was a significant differentiator between Hindu and Muslim women, as noted by author Nandita Bhavnani in her book 'The Making of Exile: Sindhi Hindus and the Partition of India’. Although the bindi isn’t originally part of the Sindhi culture, wearing it became a way of conforming and being accepted. They often gave up their own identity or cloaked it, so that they could fit in.

Some reports point to Srilankan Tamils wiping bindis off their forehead during the anti-Tamil riots, in order to save their lives. 

This had been denominator of upper caste too. There are records to suggest Dalits being shunned from wearing bindis. This 2015 report shows how in South India, upper caste students wore yellow with vermillion bindi, but Dalits usually didn’t wear them. 

The bindi is also so intrinsically woven into Hindu culture, that the absence of it has also caused outrage. Hindu groups ran a campaign on Twitter (currently X) with the hashtag #NoBindiNoBusiness, against Diwali advertisements where models were spotted without bindis. A Karnataka BJP MP, S Muniswamy had once scolded a woman vendor saying, "Wear a Bindi first. Your husband is alive, isn't he? You have no common sense."

On Television and in Bollywood 

Bindis with all Indian attire has been a common trend in all on-screen formats. But some characters took this to a new level and can be remembered through their iconic bindi choices. 

The iconic Komolika, the character everyone loved to hate from ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’, was known for her long, slender bindis as much as she was famous for her hair twirls and background vocals of “Likaaa” every time she appeared on the screen. 

Kokilaben, another iconic character, whose dialogues went viral and earned their own music tracks (remember ‘Rasode mein kaun tha’?) is also always seen wearing bejewelled, elaborate bindis on screen. 

Notably, singer Usha Uthup wears the Bengali font of the letter K, signifying her love for the city Kolkata during most of her on-stage performances.

From an ambitious, driven young woman like Deepika Padukone’s character in ‘Piku’, to Sridevi’s portrayal of a traditional Indian mother in ‘English Vinglish’, to Alia Bhatt’s feminist, outspoken depiction of a Bengali news anchor in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, the bindi has been worn by a wide range of characters. The bindi has in some cases been used to show cultural tie, while in others, it’s been used to just accentuate the actors’ outfits. 

Adopted in Fashion in Myriad Forms

Women of different age groups and backgrounds have worn bindis with their outfits, often matching them to colours of outfits for years, regardless of their marital status. The bindi is also available in different shapes, sizes, swirls, stick-on gems, glittery dots, or liquid forms. 

Maharani Gayatri Devi, whose personal style was celebrated in India and abroad, wore the bindi as a tiny dot on her mid-forehead. A pioneer of modern art, Amrita Shergill, wore it as a similar small dot. Decorative bindis were mostly popularised by older Hindi film actresses. Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi has often been spotted donning the bindi, perhaps in an effort to distance from her Italian origins and blend in with Indian culture. 

Easier and more convenient to adopt than the others, it’s been worn for years for simply aesthetic reasons. It’s been spotted numerous times on the runway. 

It’s also an accessory adopted widely by those from the LGBTQIA community and men. From actor and transwoman Trinetra, to fashion enthusiast Pushpak Sen who regularly wears sarees in a bid to popularise clothing not being gendered, the bindi has been sported by many. 

This popularization of the bindi and its use as a fashion accessory has spread across the world and led to further, deeper discourse around it. 

Diaspora Dilemma

Sandeepa Surya, a second-generation American Indian living in New York, and a teacher by profession, in a conversation with HerZindagi, highlights why she wears a bindi almost every day. 

“It serves as a connection to my cultural roots, symbolizing my heritage, identity, and sense of belonging to a vast and rich tradition. The bindi also acts as a visual marker, representing my family's values and customs, and helping me maintain a link to my ancestral background in the midst of a diverse and sometimes culturally unfamiliar environment,” she said. “Watching my mother, aunts, and other elder women in my family wear bindis taught me to be proud and accepting of my unique identity, and embrace both my Indian and American components with confidence and grace.”She adds that the bindi is quite readily available for purchase in New York, and she has seen both Indian and non-Indians wear it. However, not all of it is rosy. 

“Unfortunately, I have witnessed women wearing the bindi or other cultural symbols face discrimination or harassment due to misunderstandings or biases,” said Sandeepa. 

In the sitcom "Family Guy", Peter Griffin jokes about using the "red button" on his wife's forehead as a remote control. It hints towards how overarchingly in the West people wearing bindis are stereotyped as backwards, old-fashioned and unwilling to embrace American culture.

Hollywood’s Bindi Association

Several Hollywood celebrities have sported the bindi, and often been called “Exotic”. 

Singer Selena Gomez sported a red sparkling bindi while performing at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards. Actor Vanessa Hudgens of ‘High School Musical’ fame wore a curvy silver bindi to the  Coachella music festival. Singer Katy Perry wore a shiny golden one to the 2010 Grammy Awards.

While some loved the looks, others questioned using an ancient accessory, rooted in culture and tradition as a fashion fad. They questioned the fine line between fetishization or misunderstanding culture vs just adding a spunky aesthetic value to outfits. At music festivals or gatherings, many wore bindi as just any other face accessory. 

This eventually led to the widespread debate over cultural appropriation of the bindi. 

Is Bindi Being Worn by Women in the West Cultural Appropriation?

Cultural appropriation occurs when individuals from a dominant group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in a manner that is exploitative, disrespectful or perpetuates stereotypes. But this becomes a hazy topic because culture itself is hard to define as a concept. 

“I have seen the bindi used negatively by being appropriated and worn by women who lack an understanding of its cultural or religious significance. I view this as disrespectful and insensitive. My pet peeve is when the bindi is reduced to being called a “dot” and the significance of it is minimized and misunderstood. This to me is a form of religious insensitivity or cultural mockery,” said Sandeepa, the second-generation Indian American from New York. 

Read: The Red Revival: Redefining Sindoor Through Style and Fashion

There also exists a fine line between appreciating another culture and appropriating it. Broadly, appropriation is said to occur when the dominant/majority group benefits financially or socially from using elements of another culture. 

Smita, the sociologist, said, “From the sociological standpoint, it is cultural appropriation. With the growth of mass media, it has been all the more popularised. It contributes to social learning for youngsters in society. And the capitalists are profiting out of society’s culture. This is part of the culture industry as explained by Theodor Adorno.” 

'Culture industry' is a term coined by critical theorists Adorno & Horkheim, and refers to popular culture being like factories that produce standardized cultural goods (e.g., films, radio, magazines) used to manipulate mass society in various ways.