Festivals, about 9 Oct 2027
Sindur Khela
On the last day of Durga Puja, Bengali married women smear sindoor on the goddess and on each other's faces.
Sindur Khela, "the play of vermilion", takes place on Vijayadashami, the last day of Durga Puja, in Bengali Hindu communities in West Bengal, Bangladesh and around the world. Before the image of Durga is taken for immersion, married women offer sweets and sindoor to the goddess, then apply the red powder to one another's foreheads, hair partings and cheeks, wishing each other a long married life. The faces, saris and hands are soon red. Many women wear the white sari with a red border associated with the festival. The date follows the Bengali calendar and can differ by a day from Vijayadashami elsewhere in India.
Guides tied to Sindur Khela
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sindoor: Masum-al-hasan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source