In Pakistan, a fading tradition of Hindu women’s tattoos
The centuries-old practice of Hindu women wearing facial and body tattoos is gradually disappearing in Pakistan, as younger generations move away from customs once seen as central to community identity.
For generations, elder women in Hindu villages along the border with India would needle intricate designs onto the faces, hands, and arms of younger women.
The practice was believed to carry cultural meaning, with designs used to identify members of the community and protect them from harm.
However, as rural Hindu communities in Muslim-majority Pakistan become increasingly connected to nearby towns and cities, fewer young women are choosing to continue the tradition.
Just 2% of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Hindu, most of whom live in Sindh.
Discrimination against minorities remains widespread, and many young Hindus say tattoos make them more visibly identifiable in public.
For Hindu activist Mukesh Meghwar, notions tied to tattoos are one reason for the declining tradition.
"We grew up hearing that a tattoo on the body is a sin [according to Muslims in Pakistan]," he told AFP. "I remember ten years back, I heard that one who has tattoos will have no life after death. It’s sin. And when we discuss such things with our families, it certainly affects our women as well.”
Many Muslims in Pakistan view tattoos as forbidden, and those who do have them rarely display them publicly.
Few Hindus interviewed could recall the origins of the custom, but anthropologists say it stretches back hundreds of years.
“These symbols are part of the culture of people who trace their roots to the Indus civilisation,” anthropologist Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro told AFP, referring to the Bronze Age period that predates modern religions. “These ‘marks’ were traditionally used to identify members of a community and to ward off evil spirits.”
For young Hindus, however, the practice no longer holds the same significance.
Durga Prem, a 20-year-old computer science student, said: “We want to represent our skills in front of others. We don’t want these things [tattoos] that could create hurdles in our communication.”
Another student, Mumta Prem, said tattoos can be a reason to be outcast.
“With education and living in the city, this trend is declining. One looks different from others if one has tattoos. So, we don’t have tattoos.”
While the tradition remains visible among older women in rural areas, Meghwar believes the younger generations are unlikely to carry it forward.
"This is very painful. Perhaps we are the last generation to see tattoos," he said.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
