Kumkuma

Kumkuma is a powder used for social and religious markings in India. It is made from turmeric or other local materials: the turmeric is dried and powdered with a little slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder red. It has many names across India, including kumkum, kunku, kanku, kukum and kungumam. Hindus most often apply it to the forehead, at or between the eyebrows, where one explanation places the sixth chakra, the ajna chakra or third eye. The page describes how Shaivites wear three white horizontal lines with a dot of kumkuma at the centre, Vaishnavas apply a red streak between white clay lines, and Shaktas apply a dot of vermilion with turmeric smeared around it. Kumkuma is also widely used in worshipping Hindu goddesses, especially Shakti and Lakshmi, and is thrown into the air during Holi, the Festival of Colours.