Today, from our luxurious 5* Hotel Asia Gardens in Spain; we want you to know a bit more about the Indian culture. We are going to tell you about the bindi, a decorative element that has a great meaning, religious and esthetical.

The word bindi comes from the Sanskrit “bindu”, which means “drop, little particle or point”. Usually, the bindi is a little red point placed in the centre of the forehead between the eyebrows, although it is becoming more usual to wear a little jewellery piece.

According to religion and tradition, the bindi is the chakra or third eye, which is considered “an energy point that helps find inner peace through meditation”. They say that God gives us two eyes to see the physical world and the chakra to see the spiritual one. The bindi keeps the energy and improves the concentration.

Another theory says that the bindi is the symbol from the Goddess Pavarti that provides feminine energy and protects the woman who wears it and her husband.

But the bindi’s tradition has much more history than that. In the past, when a couple got married, the groom would dip his finger in his own blood and paint with it a point on his wife’s forehead and a line on her head root, so that everyone would know she was married. After some time, blood has been left aside and they started using paint and decorative elements.

The wise Hindu men claim that the red lead powder sindhoo and the spearmint plaster have refreshing properties. By being between the eyebrows, that zone relaxes and the mind calms down.

Depending on the religion they belong to, the bindi can have different forms. The ones that believe in God Vishnu apply the bindi in a yellow, red or saffron U-form. On the other hand, the ones that believe in Shiva paint three horizontal lines with ash.

The bindi is a very important element for Indian brides. Every bride should wear the classical red bindi, but depending on where they live, they can put more red and white points around the original one. The Maharastrian brides usually wear bindis like quarter moon.

Every day, more single Indian women use the bindi as a decorative element. They come in lots of colours, forms and with inlaid precious gems, so that they match their sarees.

At Asia Gardens, we always invite you to know more about the Asian culture. Today, we would like to talk about the traditional Japanese dances, which have been practiced for more than 300 years.

The origins of these dances go back to the ceremonial dances that were presented for the Court, the ones danced in popular parties and the Ennen, which come from the Buddhism. Besides, the Japanese theatre Kabuki is very connected to these dances, because both of them forget about the shallow things in life and follow the Buddhist philosophy of “bringing the soul closer to heaven”.

The Japanese traditional dances consist of slow moves from dancers that keep steady and solid on the ground, taking very short steps on bending knees.

How the dancers move their heads also plays a big role, because this way, they transmit the energy and the expression of the Japanese spirit. The audience sees the dancers moving really slowly, but these moves require a great discipline in order to be able to do some unique postures.

There are three different oriental dancing styles that depend on the kind of moves the dancers make. There is the Mai, where they make slow and majestic moves; the Odori, a very fast and joyful dance, and the Shosa, where the dancers express their feelings and emotions.

As we already told you some weeks ago (https://asiagardens.es/blog/blog/2013/04/05/the-traditional-kimono/?lang=en), the kimono is the traditional costume in Japan, and of course, they wear it for these dances. Depending on how old the dancer is, where he/she is dancing and what time of the year it is, the dancer wears a type of kimono that suits these elements. For example, if it is spring, the kimono is pink, in autumn, it is brown, etc. Where they are dancing also influences the way they dress: if the show is outdoors, the dancers wear wood sandals, but if the show is indoors, they wear tabi socks.

Regarding the make-up and hairdos of the dancers, the Japanese are very traditional: they paint their faces with white powder and highlight brows, eyes and lips, so that their skin looks like porcelain. On top of it, they wear Japanese medieval wigs called katsura that are usually short and black (http://www.telva.com/albumes/2013/04/26/mono_japo_peinado_moda_celebrities_pasarela/, http://japonismo.com/blog/el-maquillaje-de-maikos-y-geishas ).

The main element in the traditional Japanese dances is the fan, called osensu. The dancers use it to represent different objects, such as swords, trees, or even meteorological situations like snow or wind. But they also use sunshades or cherry tree branch.

The most famous Japanese dancing festival is the Awa Odori, which has been taking place in the city of Tokushima during summer for 400 years and brings together almost 100.000 dancers from all around the country.

Just as in the Japanese traditional dances, at Asia Gardens 5 star luxury hotel in Spain we are also searching for peace and tranquillity of our souls.

We are waiting for you.

The East sets the pace, and today we are going to tell you a little bit more about the rise of the Asian continent and its upper and middle classes.

When China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), this marked a crucial moment in its fast take off on the way to conquer world economic hegemony.

Currently, the Asian giant is the largest luxury consumer in the planet, even larger than Japan, the US and Europe. Market studies carried out by prestigious labels predict that in just three years, 45% of luxury consumption shall be in the hands of the Chinese… this is the reason why the top managers of companies such as Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Mercedes Benz and BMW, among others, already know what it takes to get a spot in the highly-valued Nanjing Road in Shanghai, the busiest shopping street in the world.

The latest report by the World Luxury Association foresees that designs are going to change and adapt to Asian consumers, tailor made for the Asian market, as Asian people have smaller feet with broader insteps and ankles.

The beauty standards established are also being taken over by the Asian giant, the model Liu Wen emerged from Peking to first-class catwalks in 2008, guided by Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld.  In 2010, she became the first Eastern woman to take part in the famous Victoria’s Secret fashion show and she also became one of the faces of Estée Lauder known worldwide. “Liu Wen is a contemporary beauty”. Things are looking up for China.

There is no turning back. The next queues to enrol in language courses will no longer be to enrol in English but in Chinese.

On the other hand, South East Asia is another one of the region’s leading the growth of luxury in the continent. Singapore keeps on being a local icon in premium markets, placed within the ten top luxury destinations to visit in the world. We must also add the increasing familiarisation with luxury of Malayan and Indonesian consumers, who are becoming more and more acquainted with this type of market.

Would you like to join the fashion of Asian luxury?

We are right in the centre of Costa Blanca, very near you, and we have true luxury to offer you, wonderful tropical gardens, large cascades, seven exuberant pools, exquisite Eastern cuisine and all sorts of commodities at your reach.

Come to our dream paradise, a true Eastern delight.

We look forward to seeing you.