Walking in the Chicago Midway airport, I saw many Indian women wearing red dots on their foreheads. Why do they wear them? Who wears them? Does it have some symbolic meaning or is it merely for fashion? After a little research, this is what I found:The decorative red dot is called a bindi. Traditionally, it was only worn by married women (sort of like a wedding band--if you see a woman with one you know she is not available). In South India and other places, however, women single or otherwise wear the bindi for decoration. The bindi can be applied with vermilion powder or circular pieces of felt can be used. More recently, people have been wearing oval, linear or other shaped Bindi as well as the traditional circular variety.
The location for the Bindi also has significance. The spot between the eyebrows is the 'seat of concealed wisdom" and a central point for concentration.
For more info, see http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa072002a.htm
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