Pureganics at 12:04, 19 August 2025

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{{Short description|Ritual protection thread in Hinduism and Jainism}}
[[File:Kalava Mauli Wikipedia.jpg|thumb|The thread of Mauli tied on right arm.]]
[[File:Mauli or Kalava.jpg|thumb|right|A bundle of Mauli.]]
A '''kautuka''' is a red-yellow coloured ritual protection thread, sometimes with knots, found on the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It is sometimes called a ''kalava'', ''mauli'', ''mauli'', ''rakshasutra'',<ref name="A2010"/> ''pratisara'' (in North India), ''kaapu'', ''kayiru'', ''charandu'' or rakshadhara (in South India).<ref name="Yim2008p53"/><ref name=gonda145/><ref name=yuko1996p419/> A ''kautuka'' is a woven thread, cord or ribbon, states the Indologist [[Jan Gonda]], which is traditionally believed to be protective or [[Apotropaic magic|apotropaeic]].<ref name=gonda145/>

==History==

The earlier reference to ritual "red and black" colored thread with a dual function, one of driving away "fiends" and the other "binding of bonds" between the bride and the groom by one's relatives appears in hymn 10.85.28 of the ''[[Rigveda]]'' (c. 1500–1000 BCE), states Gonda.<ref name=gonda145/><ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Gonda|title=Sanskrit Word Studies|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vAFHPQAACAAJ| year=1975|publisher=Brill Academic|isbn=978-90-04-04231-5| page=313|language= German}}, Quote: "die Verwandten der Braut binden ihr mit RV 10,85,28 eine rote und schwarze, wollene oder linnene Schnur um: raktakrmam ävikam ksaumaw vä trimanirripratisaram jnätayo 'syä badhnanti nllalohitam iti"</ref>

The ''pratisara'' and ''kautuka'' in a ritual thread context appear in the [[Vedic text]] ''[[Atharvaveda]] [[Samhita]]'' (c. 1200–900 BCE) section 2.11.<ref name=gonda145/>

==Ritualistic usage==

===Description ===

It is the woven thread in the ''[[Puja (Hinduism)|pooja]] [[thali]]'' (prayer tray). It is typically colored a shade of red, sometimes orange, saffron, yellow or is a mixture of these colors.<ref name=gonda145/><ref>{{cite book|author=Ajay Mitra Shastri|title=India as seen in the Bṛhatsaṁhitā of Varāhamihira|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KQAbAAAAMAAJ| year=1969|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass|pages= 178–179|isbn=9780896842212}}</ref><ref name="A2010">{{cite book|author=Richard H. Davis|title=A Priest's Guide for the Great Festival: Aghoraśivācārya Mahotsavavidhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruAfDP0OZyEC |year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-537852-8|pages=61–62, 67–68, 99–100 with footnotes 131 and 132}}</ref> However, it may also be white or wreathe or just stalks of a grass of the types found in other cultures and believed to offer similar [[Apotropaic magic|apotropaic]] value.<ref name=gonda145/> It is typically tied to the wrist or worn like a necklace, but occasionally it may be worn in conjunction with a headband or turban-like gear.<ref name=gonda145/> Similar threads are tied to various items and the neck of vessels during a Hindu puja ceremony.<ref>{{cite book|author=Shovana Narayan|title=Meandering Pastures of Memories| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bYBdK0algM8C|year=2007| publisher=Macmillan| isbn=978-1-4039-3102-3| page=33}}</ref>

===Rite of passage or sacrificial rituals ===
[[File:Hindu Bride, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|A Hindu Bride holding a ''kalasha''. A red colored ''kautuka'' is visible on the neck of the vessel.]]

A ''pratisara'' or ''kautuka'' serves a ritual role in [[Hinduism]], and is tied by the priest or oldest family member on the wrist of a devotee, patron, loved one or around items such as ''kalasha'' or ''lota'' (vessel) for a rite-of-passage or [[yajna]] ritual.<ref name="Yim2008p53">{{cite book|author=Colleen M. Yim|title=Veiled Gurus: A Hindu Mother's Experiential Involvement in Religious Knowledge Transmission|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=xteudBGBIuoC| year=2008|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-3775-6|pages=53–57, 64}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ashis Nandy|title=Exiled at Home: Comprising, At the Edge of Psychology, The Intimate Enemy, Creating a Nationality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBVuAAAAMAAJ| year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-564177-6|page=126}}</ref>

===Raksasutra ===

The ''raksasutra'' (lit. ''protective thread'', also called ''kautuka'' or ''pratisara'') is also a part of festive ceremonies and processions, where the protective thread is tied to the wrist of festival icons and human participants. It is mentioned in verses 27.206-207 of the ''Ajitagama'', states the Indologist Richard Davis.<ref name="A2010"/> Some Hindu texts mention these threads to be a part of the ''rakshabandhana'' rite for a temple procession and festive celebrations, recommending woven gold, silver or cotton threads, with some texts specifying the number of threads in a ''kautuka''.<ref name="A2010"/>

The ritual thread is traditionally worn on the right wrist or arm by the males and on the left by the females. This thread also plays a role in certain familial and marital ceremonies. For example, a red or golden or similarly colored thread is offered by a sister to her brother at [[Raksha Bandhan]]. This thread, states the Indologist Jack Goody, is at once a "protection against misfortune for the brother, a symbol of mutual dependence between the sister and brother, and a mark of mutual respect".<ref name="Goody1990p223">{{cite book|author=Jack Goody|title=The Oriental, the Ancient and the Primitive: Systems of Marriage and the Family in the Pre-Industrial Societies of Eurasia|url=https://archive.org/details/orientalancientp0000good |url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-36761-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/orientalancientp0000good/page/222 222]–223}}</ref> In a Hindu marriage ceremony, this thread is referred to as ''kautuka'' in ancient Sanskrit texts.<ref name=gonda145>{{cite book|author=Jan Gonda|title=Handbuch Der Orientalistik: Vedic Rituals |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7UBxYpXWP30C&pg=PA145 |year=1980|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-06210-8|pages=145–146}}</ref> It is tied to both the bride and the groom, as well as household items such as grinding stone, clay pots and fertility symbols.<ref name="Yim2008p53"/> In South India, it is the priest who ties the ''kaapu'' (kautuka) on the groom's wrist, while the groom ties the colored thread on the bride's wrist as a part of the wedding rituals.<ref name=yuko1996p419>{{cite journal |author = Yuko Nishimura| year= 1996| journal= Anthropos| volume= 91|issue= Bd. 91, H. 4/6| pages= 411–423| title=South Indian Wedding Rituals. A Comparison of Gender Hierarchy| jstor= 40464498}}</ref>

==Religious symbolism ==

===Hindu Vaishnavism===

In regional [[Vaishnavism]] tradition of Hinduism such as those found in [[Maharashtra]], the red-colored thread symbolizes Vishnu for men, and Lakshmi for women, states the Indologist [[Gudrun Bühnemann]]. The string typically has no knots or fourteen knots and it is tied to the wrist of the worshipper or garlanded as a necklace. If worn by the wife, it is without knots and is identified with ''Lakshmi-doraka'' or Anantī. To the husband, the thread has knots and it symbolizes Ananta (Vishnu).<ref>{{cite book |author=Gudrun Bühnemann  |title= Pūjā: A Study in Smārta Ritual |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44bXAAAAMAAJ| year= 1988| publisher=Brill |isbn=978-3-900271-18-3 |pages=223–234}}</ref>

===Hindu Shaivism===

The [[Shaivism]] tradition of Hinduism similarly deploys auspicious ''kautuka'' (''pratisara'') threads in puja and consecration rituals. For example, during temple construction and worship rituals, the ''shilpa'' Sanskrit texts recommend that the first bricks and the Shiva [[linga]] be ritually tied with red-, golden-, saffron- or similarly hued threads.<ref name="anna2007p69">{{cite book|author=Anna Aleksandra Ślączka|title=Temple Consecration Rituals in Ancient India: Text and Archaeology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9LznwzyNE18C&pg=PA69 |year=2007|publisher= BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-15843-6|pages=69–70}}</ref> The Shaiva temple architecture texts generally use the term ''kautuka'' for this auspicious thread, while Vaishnava texts refer to it as ''pratisara''.<ref name="anna2007p69"/>

===Jainism===

In [[Jainism]], protective threads with amulets are called ''raksapotli''. Typically red and worn of the wrist, they may sometimes come with a rolled up red fabric that has been blessed by a Jain mendicant using ''mantras'', according to the Indologist M. Whitney Kelting.<ref name="Kelting2009p45"/> If worn on the neck, states Kelting, the Jain tradition names the protective amulet after the Jain deity whose blessing is believed to be tied into the knot. The ritual significance of a protective thread between the sisters and brothers as well as during Jain weddings is similar to those in Hinduism.<ref name="Kelting2009p45">{{cite book|author=M. Whitney Kelting|title=Heroic Wives Rituals, Stories and the Virtues of Jain Wifehood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-txAd-dK0tEC&pg=PA190|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973679-9|pages=45–47, 190 with notes 20, 21}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Commons category}}

* [[Hinduism]]
** [[Upanayana]] or Janeu, sacred thread of Hindus used as rite of passage
** [[Upakarma]], ritual for changing the worn out Upanayana
** [[Sikha]], the sacred ponytail
** [[Rishi]], saint
** [[Tagadhari]], wearer of Upanayana

* [[Judaism]]
** [[Bar and Bat Mitzvah]], initiation ceremony
** [[Red string (Kabbalah)]], protective red thread Jewish folk tradition

* [[Zoroastrian]]ism
** [[Navjote]], Zoroastrian initiation ceremony
** [[Kushti]], the Zoroastrian sacred thread

* Others
** [[Izze-kloth]], the Apache Native American sacred cord

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Culture of India]]
[[Category:Hindu rituals]]

Kautuka - Revision history

Pureganics at 12:04, 19 August 2025