Hinduism
Female figurines excavated at Mehrgarh, Baluchistan seem to imply application of sindoor to the partition of women's hair in Harappa culture. According to the Legends, Radha the consort of Lord Krishna turned the kumkum into a flame- like design on her forehead. In the famous epic Mahabharata, Draupadi the wife of the Pandavas wipes off her sindoor in disgust and despair at the happenings in Hastinapur. Use of Sindoor is very widely mentioned in The Puranas Lalitha Sahasranama and Soundarya Lahari.
Jain women also apply the sindoor, mostly in the cities. Jain nuns are forbidden to apply this in their hair line or foreheads. The display of the sindoor is considered very important to indicate the married status of the groom whereas in several local cultures, sindoor is applied on their hair partings by unmarried women.
Adi Shankaracharya writes in Soundarya Lahari
Tanothu kshemam nas tava vadhana-saundarya lahari. Parivaha-sthrotah-saraniriva seemantha-saranih. Vahanti sinduram prabala-kabari-bhara-thimira-. Dvisham brindair bandi-krtham iva navin'arka kiranam.
(Oh mother, let the line parting thine hairs, which looks like a canal, through which the rushing waves of your beauty ebbs, and which on both sides imprisons, your Vermillion, which is like a rising sun, by using your hair which is dark like the platoon of soldiers of the enemy, protect us and give us peace.)
Application of sindoor is essentially a Hindu tradition. In the 19th century, Sufi leader Sharafuddin Maneri encouraged Muslim women to apply sindoor in Bangladesh. This was severely condemned by reformist movements.
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