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JULY, 1902.]
NOTES ON FEMALE TATTOO DESIGNS IN INDIA.
NOTES ON FEMALE TATTOO DESIGNS IN INDIA. BY B. A. GUPTE, F.Z.S.
(With a Note by H. A. Rose.)
1. The mole is a well-known protection from the Evil Eye. It is also an emblem of the Chandani, corresponding to Venus, whose approach to the Moon, a personified male (as distinguished from the female of the West) is a natural phenomenon held to represent the meeting of a loving pair. The Moon is called Râktipati or Târâganapati, "King of the Night," "Husband of the Stars."
2. Rohini is his favourite wife, and she is represented thus, while a crescent shows the Moon. A dot between the horns represents the face of the Moon, which is often,
however, drawn like the human face in profile
his loving consort. It is an emblem of conjugal happiness.
with another dot below it to represent
3. A line between the eyebrows represents the red powder or the ashes applied to that spot as a protection from all evils. It is called angara, or vibhuti.
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4. The Panch or five Pandavas, who lived in conjugal happiness-without disagreement with one wife, represent domestic harmony among brothers.
5. The nine planets or grahs are supposed to have great influence over the destinies of mortals; and as a charm against their occasional evil influence a ring is. worn containing the nine gems, such as diamond, ruby, coral, topaz, pearl, emerald, sapphire, cat's-eye and gôméd, known to commerce as the Burmese ruby. The ring is represented in the tattoo mark.
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6. This eight-sided figure represents the lotus (called phul in the tattoo mark), which is the seat or pedestal of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. It also represents the whole universe, and is drawn in different ways. Thus
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1 Compare Shakespeare's "It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Oh, rise fair Sun, and kill the envious Moon!""
