Respect - Hand Gesture

Hand Gesture

In some areas of India it is customary that, out of respect, when a person's foot accidentally touches a book or any written material (which are considered to be a manifestation of the goddess of knowledge Saraswati) or another person's leg, it will be followed by an apology in the form of a single hand gesture (Pranāma) with the right hand, where the offending person first touches the object with the finger tips and then the forehead and/or chest. This also counts for money, which is considered to be a manifestation of the goddess of wealth Lakshmi.

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