Importance of Wearing Bindi

A 'bindi' or 'bindu' means drop or globule. In Indian/Hindu culture it is supposed to be a sacred symbol of the universe, depicted as a dot or the zero. Applied between the eyebrows, it is position of the sixth chakra, a place which is also the exit point of kundalini energy. Red bindu which women wear also symbolizes fire as per tantra. 

An author writes that while Muslim women in Pak/Bangladesh also wear bindi quite often it is comparatively rare in Indian Muslim women perhaps due to its religious significance. 

From health point of view, bindi is worn between the eyebrows where the pineal gland lies which is an important nerve center and applying sandalwood or ash keeps the nerves cool and conserves energy. But it helps in this aspect only if bindi is made of natural sources and not of plastic. 

The bindi also represents the third eye (of wisdom/enlightenment). The Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda mentions the word vindu/bindu.

[Source: Books and online resources; Picture © Andre Susan]