One could "receive darshana" of the deity in the temple, or from a great saintly person, such as a great guru. The touching of the feet (pranāma) is a show of respect and it is often an integral part of darshan. Children touch the feet of their family elders while people of all ages will bend to touch the feet of a great guru, murti (icon) of a Deva (God) (such as Rama or Krishna). There is a special link between worshipper and guru during pujas, in which people may touch the guru's feet in respect (Pranāma), or remove the dust from a guru's feet before touching their own head.
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Pranāma, or the touching of feet in Indian culture is a sign of respect. For instance, when a child is greeting his or her grandparent, they typically will touch their hands to their grandparents' feet. In Indian culture, it is believed that the feet are a source of power and love.Chatterjee, Gautam (2001).
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Mahashivratri, Shiv Jayanit, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Hanuman Jayanit, Ram Navami, Makar Sankranti, Gudhi Padwa, Dasra, Holi, and Diwali are the main festivals celebrated together in Ratnapimpri. During the Makar Sankranti and Dasra celebrations, people hug each other and do Pranāma to elders, while distributing sweets (til gul) and gold (aptyachi pane). During Navratri, people leave their daily chores and engage in a nine-day celebration and worship of the Goddess Indasani.
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Sampeah (Cambodian greeting) The Sampeah () is a Cambodian greeting or a way of showing respect. It is very similar to the Thai wai. Both Sampeah and Thai wai are based on the Indian Añjali Mudrā used in namasté. Pranāma or Namaste, the part of ancient Indian culture has propagated to southeast Asia, which was part of indosphere of greater India, through the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism from India.
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Sembah gesture depicted in Borobudur bas-relief Pranāma or Namaste, the part of ancient Indian culture has propagated to southeast Asia, which was part of indosphere of greater India, through the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism from India. The sembah originated from an ancient greeting of reverence that was done to show neither involves prostration, or clasping the hands palms together and bowing to the ground. The gesture first appears c. 4000 years ago on the clay seals of the Indus Valley Civilization.
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Sena arrived at the court, when the king stood up and greeted up. The king rushed towards Sena, caught Sena's feet (see Pranāma, a sign of respect in Indian culture) and requested him to show his four-armed form. The king brought the bowl of oil and looked at the reflection of Sena in the oil, but could see the four-armed divine form that he had experienced. The surprised Sena explained to the king that he had seen Sena's patron god, Krishna himself.
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In India, it is customary that, out of respect, when a person's foot accidentally touches a book or any written material (considered to be a manifestations of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge) or another person's leg, it will be followed by an apology in the form of a single hand gesture (Pranāma) with the right hand, where the offending person first touches the object with the finger tips and then the forehead and/or chest. This also counts for money, which is considered to be a manifestation of the goddess of wealth Lakshmi.DeBruyn, Pippa; Bain, Keith; Venkatraman, Niloufer (2010). Frommer's India. pp. 76.
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Pranāma or Namaste, the part of ancient Indian culture has propagated to Southeast Asia, which was part of indosphere of greater India, through the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism from India. It has influenced the following nations. In Indonesia, wai-like gestures are in use in various parts of the country, in the royal courts of Java it is called sembah (ꦱꦼꦩ꧀ꦧꦃ), and also common in Lombok and Bali, where Hinduism and Buddhism is or has been widely practiced. In Bali the greeting word spoken during the sembah is om swastiastu, which is equivalent to sawatdee in Thai.
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Writer S. N. Swamy got the idea for the film from a photograph featured in an English-language Sunday magazine published from Calcutta. Swami recalled in an interview that it was the time when mafia bosses had a glorified image in the country after the national emergency period in India (1975 – 1977). That was the time when public began to learn about Bombay-based mafia leaders such as Haji Mastan, Yusuf Patel, Varadarajan Mudaliar among others. The magazine had an article on Mastan and a photograph featuring much respected actor Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu touching Mastan's feet for giving pranāma.
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