Contributed By Deepak Janmanchi
It’s been twelve days since the release of ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ it's impossible for us to get out of its euphoria. Baahubali is a boon presented to the Indian cinema by SS Rajamouli and his team. However, there are many Lilliputian things which went unnoticed. Few of those ignored things are the Bindis(తిలకం) and Logos used by characters of the movie. These instances prove a fact that the film unit was very minute in detailing. This article maybe a perfect reply to all those who say that Baahubali is only about VFX.
Disclaimer: These conclusions are drawn solely based on my personal intuition. Everything may or may not be coincidental. If you’ve got a more reasonable theory, Kindly share it with us in the comments section.
Tattoo Analysis
Bijjaladeva - Trishulam: According to Hindu mythology, A Trident (త్రిశూలం) is said to represent three gunas mentioned in Indian vedic philosophy namely Sattvika, Rajasika, and Tamasika.
Tamasika, One of the three above mentioned gunas, is the quality of imbalance, disorder, chaos, and anxiety which are perfectly possessed by Bijjaladeva.
Sivagami - Full Moon: This ‘Nindu-Bindhuvu’ on Sivagami Devi’s forehead illustrates the dynamic nature/completeness of her. Refer to this article to know the reasons why Sivagami is a ‘Full moon’
Amarendra Baahubali - Half Moon: Half Moon (నెలవంక) is deemed as sacred by most of the existing religions. Amarendra is admired to the core of Maahishmati people’s heart because of his kind, balanced, and cool behaviour. Half Moon is said to depict the same above qualities.
If you remember, Kaala Bhairava (Magadheera) too used the same Bindi.
Devasena - Gender Equality: Anushka Shetty marvellously potrayed the challenging role of Devasena which is in loggerheads with the most powerful Sivagami. This bindi on Devasena’s forehead resembles fusion of Male (♂) and Female (♀) gender symbols. Feminism everywhere!
Bhallaladeva - Rising Sun: Bhallaladeva, the antagonist of Baahubali, aptly satisfies the standards of a rising sun up to a certain extent. “The Sun is roughly middle-aged; it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years, and will remain fairly stable for more than another five billion years”.
Because of his love failure with Devasena, Bhalla denies to marry another girl.(As said by Jakkanna in one of the recent interviews). The only motive of Bhalla is- ‘Love is temporary, Revenge is eternal’! Bhala evergreen Bhalla bhalla!
Mahendra Baahubali - Serpent and Conch Shell: Shivudu, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, has symbols of serpent and conch shell(శంఖం) on his forehead and left shoulder respectively. This symbolizes the love of Mahendra towards the almighty. In the initial days of script development, Jakkanna thought of naming this character as ‘Nandi’ (Vehicle of Lord Shiva).
Kattappa - Loyal Slave: “Maahishmathi ki makili pattindi...Raktham tho kadigey” “Aana Thalli”! These lines describe the loyalty of Kattappa towards the throne of Maahishmathi. Irrespective of prevailing conditions and consequences, Kattappa’s head should always be bowed down to the person sitting in simhasanam. Tattoo on Kattappa’s forehead shows his slavery and helplessness.
Maahishmathi Logo: A strict hierarchy is maintained in the kingdom of Maahishmathi. (Hierarchy pyramid can be seen in center of logo). It’s safeguarded from its enemies by armed professionals (Horses) on either of its sides. Jai Maahishmati! \m/
Kunthala King - Black mark The leader of the kunthalas is trying to avenge the wrongs done to his family. He is on a mission. The black mark signifies that. He is the avenger who has nothing left to lose.
Avanthika - Black spear tip Avanthika is a woman on a mission. Her purpose in life is to achieve the freedom of Devasena. She has turned herself into a weapon for this purpose. Here bindi signifies this.
Bhadra - Bull Bull symbolizes authority, aggressiveness and dominance. It can also mean stubbornness.
The love tattoos The most talked about tattoo. This one is pretty plain and simple. Two bodies finally converging into one soul, which is the reason they were placed as halves on Shivudu and Avanthika. The color combination used is also interesting. We talked about the choice of colors in this article
Thanks for taking your time to read this. As said before, share your own ideas in the comments section. Signing off!
