Kumkum

Kumkum is a powder used for social and religious markings in Hinduism. It is either made from turmeric or saffron. The turmeric is dried and powdered with a bit of slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder into a red color. The kumkum is an auspicious symbol. When a girl or a married woman visits a house, it is a sign of respect (in case of an elderly lady) or blessings (in case of a young girl) to offer kumkum to them when they leave. However, it is not offered to widows. When visiting a Hindu temple, married women from southern India usually dip their ring finger in yellow turmeric powder, and apply a dot on their neck. Men, women, girls, and boys apply a dot on their forehead of red turmuric powder, also when visiting a temple or during a pooja. In most of India, everyday, married women apply red kumkum in front of their parting on their forehead as a symbol of marriage. This is called vermilion, or in Hindi, sindoor.

Saffron for kumkum is made from the flower Crocus sativus, in the family Iridaceae. The plant has many names in Sanskrit: Ghusrun, Rakta, Kashmir, Balhik, Kesar, Kashmiraj, Kumkum, Agneeshekhar, Asrugvar, Shatha, Shonit, Pitaka, or Rudhir. The saffron contains a dye consisting of 8 to 13.4% of the volatile oils crocin and picrococin. Kumkum is also widely used for worshiping the Hindu goddesses, especially Shakti and Lakshmi, and a kumkum powder is thrown (along with other mixtures) into the air during Holi (the Festival of Colours), a popular Hindu spring festival.

It is a shrub. Leaves are seen towards the base of the stem and are compactly arranged, flowers - either 2 to 3 flowers are in a bunch or one solitary flower is found besides each leaf, flowers are violet in colour. On every flower, there are 3 yellow coloured stamens. Seeds - the ovary is trilobed and in each lobe many round seeds are found. The stalk of gynaecium is made up of three fibers and each fiber has a red coloured stigma. This is known as kesar. Each flower yields three fibres of kesar and twenty flowers yields 120 mg. kesar. The plant flowers in autumn.

It improves complexion and hence is used for application on hyper pigmented lesions of the skin. It is also used for apply in headache. Its paste is applied on wounds. For weak eye sight, a mixture of rosewater and kesar is put in the eyes. Its paste is also used in hepatitis. It is useful in nervous debility, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, pain caused by vata, loss of appetite. liver disorders, heart diseases and blood disorders, Kesar is used in dysuria. It is also useful in impotency, dysmenorrhoea, amenorrhoea and painful labour, It is very useful in small pox. It has also been used as a rejuvenator since ancient, times. (According to Shri Priyavrat Sharma, this plant survives for many years. But my opinion is that it is a very small shrub living for about 1-2 years. I have seen it grown in Kashmir.