In Hinduism, the saffron color has a special place. Why? There are seven primary colours – three primary colours- Red, Yellow, and Blue. And three Secondary Colors-Orange, Green and Violet. The question is, why did Hindu sages give so much importance to the colour Orange?
Not just in Hindus, the saffron colour is also special to other religions -Jainism (Theravada tradition ) and Buddhism – which associate Saffron with the pious abandonment of material life. Both these religions were founded by Hindu men. So, their thought and practice of Hinduism until they started a new religion must have also affected their thinking. Therefore, the colour saffron is also selected by them for day-to-day use colour.
I have tried to research this topic and find out if there was a well-thought-out rationale for selecting the colour “Saffron” or “Orange”, especially for dresses worn by the Sadhus and monks at the temple.
Saffron Color in 3 Important Parts of Daily Life
In the Vedic period, people used to get up in Brahma Muhurat [refer Śivapurāṇa 2.1.11 ], which is, as per Hindu belief, about 96 minutes before sunrise and remain so till 48 minutes. Hindus, especially Rishi, Munis and Yogis, spent Brahma Muhurat on spiritual practices, prayers and yoga.
So, the orange colour of the sky, visible during the sunrise, has a lasting impression and high impact on a person’s mind. Now, suppose Brahma Muhurat waking up was so common in day-to-day life. In that case, one can understand the impact of one colour out of seven in the minds of people practising yoga, spiritual activities and prayers.
Then, Hindu people used to do sandhya aarti (Evening Prayer) on the banks of rivers. Many famous sandhya aarti are performed even today in India- like Triveni in Rishikesh or Sandhya Aarati on the Narmada River. The Orange colour sky at sunset is very impactful.
The yagana was the main ritual among Hindus before the temple, and God’s statue came into the life of Hindus. The fire during the yagna has yellow and orange colours.
The science behind Saffron colour use by Hindus
My primary research on the “use of Saffron colours” by Hindus” is whether there could be science behind selecting this colour. I find that even if there is no explicit mention of science behind the selection of the colour Saffron in any ancient scripture, I can relate to modern scientific research on the properties of Saffron (Orange colour).
Bhagwa for dresses for Sanyasi (Monks)
The purpose of a dress is to cover the body and protect the body from heat or cold. Now, in modern times, the research into heat absorption by various colours clearly, places the Orange colour as the second least absorbent of heat after the water colour. A simple project of experiment was done and reported by the California State Science Fair 2002 (find it here ), conducted a simple experiment as follows:
Seven identical clear plastic bowls were filled with an identical amount of cold water. Six of the bowls of water were then colored with food coloring, to create bowls of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple water. One bowl of water remained clear. A thermometer was placed in each bowl of water. The bowls of water were placed in direct sunlight from late morning until mid-afternoon for three straight days, and the temperature of each bowl of water was recorded over that time.
The result of the experiment was:
Based on the recorded temperatures, the clear water absorbed the least amount of heat from the sunlight, while the blue water absorbed the most heat. The specific order from least to greatest amount of heat absorption is: clear, orange, yellow, red, green, purple, and blue.
Since heat is least absorbed, it helps a person living in a hot country like India. I believe this was the scientific reason that the dress code for Sanyasy (monks) was set to Saffron colour , a version of Orange colour.
Psychological Effect of Saffron Color
My further research on this topic suggests even psychological reasons behind selecting the colour “Orange” for religious purposes. Here are my findings:
- The colour orange signifies warmth, kindness, and joy. [Refer Yang J, Shen X. The application of color psychology in community health environment design. J Environ Public Health. 2022;2022:7259595. doi:10.1155/2022/7259595]
- A study conducted in the year 2020 surveyed the emotional associations of 4,598 people from 30 different countries and found that people commonly associate the orange colour with joy. [Refer Jonauskaite D, Abu-Akel A, Dael N, et al. Universal patterns in color-emotion associations are further shaped by linguistic and geographic proximity. Psychol Sci. 2020;31(10):1245-1260. doi:10.1177/0956797620948810]
- It is no secret that monks, sadhus, and sanyasi have a basic life of Dhyan (Meditation ), studies of various religious scriptures and living a life of ascetics. Wearing saffron robes or clothes by sadhus helps them move forward with a life of penance, simplicity, and virtue. It is a symbol of transcending the worldly pleasures of our lives.
Hindu Philosophy Behind Saffron Color
The colour saffron, called Bhagwa or Kesariya in Hindi, symbolizes sacrifice, light, and the search for salvation. The sun is a symbol of power, and the sunset is a symbol of losing power. During sunset, the sky around the sun is coloured in orange. The Hindu religion considers this colour-Orange or Saffron- a symbol of abandonment of material life, which a sunset represents. Therefore, it was a chosen colour for yogis, rishi munies and monks.
Conclusions
Like my previous article on sacred grasses, I found that there are definite scientific and psychological reasons behind choosing the saffron color by Hindus. The colour of Bhagwa, or orange, was selected for the scientific reason that it absorbs heat less than other colours, for the psychological reason that it emanates warmth and lastly, for the philosophical reason that it represents materialistic abandonment.