why do we paint red?

[natyasri]

hi,
i was talking to this white gentleman who is very impressed with bharatanatyam. he asked me why is the red paint on fingers and i just told him it is for 2 reasons, one- visual appeal. this art being a visual media, there are certain things we put on cause it looks good and these come from our cultural background. red gives a very good contrast to the skin and makes one's skin look very bright. this color is also very noticable.
two- because in our culture for every ritual/ festival it is a custom for women to put mehendi on the hand and legs. we just replaced it with the red paint as its quick to put on and quick to remove. this art having its roots in temples, was practiced/ performed as a part of temple rituals. so here as a custom of the ritual too the dancers would put red paint.

please tell me if my explanation was right. and is there any more to it?

[rshankar]

I think you are correct. In addition,
1) The get up of a dancer is the traditional bridal attire of TN (sans the bridal sari or kURai puDavai) - along with the jewelry, it was traditional for brides to put on marudANi (not mehndi - the complicated designs which were more mughlAi than SI, but the plain marudANi that was applied to the tips of the fingers 1 or 2 phalanges deep, and on the palms, and the dorsum of the feet) - when dancing became a stage-based art form rather than a part of the ritualistic worship services in temples, people started using alta (used by brides in NI), and these days, people use markers.
2) I think red is also a very auspicious color in hinduism - the color of kumkum.