Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 373

PAINTING MARKS ON THE BODY
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arms, which sometimes weigh as much as a pound each.
Married men wear silver rings on their toes \ Many,
again, tie above their elbows little hollow tubes of gold
or silver containing magical mantrams, which they wear as
charms to avert ill luck.
They have many other baubles of the same kind 2 Even
the private parts of the children have their own particular
Little girls wear a gold or silver shield or
decorations.
while
cod-piece on which is graven some indecent picture
a boy's ornament, also of gold or silver, is an exact copy
of that member which it is meant to decorate.
Then there is the custom of painting the forehead and
other parts of the body with different figures and emblems
in various colours, a custom unknown elsewhere, but which
appears to have been common enough among ancient
The simplest of all and the most common is the
nations.
one called pottu, which consists of a small circular mark
about an inch in diameter, placed in the centre of the
It is generally yellow, but sometimes red or
forehead.
black in colour, and the paint is mixed with a sweet-smelling
paste made by rubbing sandalwood on a damp stone.
Instead of the pottu, some paint two or three horizontal
lines across their foreheads with the same mixture, and
others a perpendicular line from the top of the forehead
Some Brahmins and some of the Hindus of
to the nose.
Northern India apply this paste to their cheeks rather
Others use it to decorate the neck, breast,
effectively.
belly, and arms with different designs, while others again
smear their bodies all over with the mixture.
.
;
Brahmin men never wear such rings. Ed.
The variety and number of ornaments is almost bewildering but
they all have their proper names and shapes. Indian artisans do not
need to rack their brains to invent novelties. There are no changing
A woman can wear what
fashions, either in dress or in ornaments.
once belonged to her grandmother, or to one removed very many degrees
and this
further back, for the matter of that, either clothes or jewels
without any incongruity, or exciting remark. There is a perpetual
1
2
;
;
recurrence of old patterns, improved, it may be, but the design will be
the same.
Of course it is in jewels for females that the variety occurs
Padfield.
most.
It is a common belief among Hindus that there must always be at
least a speck of gold on one's person, in order to ensure personal cere-
monial purity.
Ed.