Alta or Mahawar is a red dye which women in (North) India apply with cotton on the border of their feet during marriages and religious festivals.[1] During Durga Puja many Bengali women put Alta on their feet.
In certain areas of India there is a tradition that after the wedding ceremony, when the bride enters her in-laws house for the first time, she steps in a plate of Alta before crossing the threshold with her right foot, leaving red footsteps behind her.
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