Why Sanskrit tattoo designs? Why not Hebrew or Arabic tattoo designs? Or tattoos in other old languages? Right now, the only competitor to Sanskrit is Chinese/Japanese words used in tattoos.

So why is Sanskrit so popular in tattoo designs? Partly due to the whims and vagaries of fashion, and partly because it looks elegant. Consider the flowing curves joined by horizontal lines at the top. This makes them natural for tattoo designs. Armband tattoos, even tribal tattoos can be designed from Sanskrit words.

Compared to Sanskrit, Chinese/Japanese words tend to look blocky. They just do not flow as well. Mind you, they can represent very complex ideas in very few words. Ancient Chinese and Japanese aristocrats created beautiful and complex poems with just a few words. The most witty of them could create poems with more than one meaning. Unfortunately, all this richness of ideas is lost in the modern world today, where almost no one has the necessary depth of literary and artistic education to appreciate poetic tattoos inked in Chinese/Japanese.

It is no wonder that Sanskrit tattoo designs beat out their Chinese/Japanese counterparts, especially in this part of the world - they just look too darned good!

How Do Indian Religious Authorities View Sanskrit Tattoo Designs?

Like practitioners of other major religions, Hindus look at the human body as a creation of God which should not be defaced with tattoos and piercings. And definitely not using holy scripts.

But while the holy man condemns such mistreatment of the human body, the society around him often has different ideas. Even in India, the home of Sanskrit, piercings in the form of ear rings and nose studs are common, especially for women. While Sanskrit tattoo designs are not widely flaunted, they are present. Rules have even appeared on how these tattoos should be maintained.

For the modern Hindu who wants to sport a Sanskrit tattoo, the area he chooses to place it must be stripped of hair. This area of flesh must never be touched by dirt.

How Does The Public view Sanskrit tattoo designs?

Well, in India, tattoos inked in Sanskrit are becoming more widely accepted. You can now see people with one or two religious symbols inked as a tattoo on their flesh. The most popular of the tattoo images is the Om symbol.

Fortunately, the rest of us are not in India. So we are not subject to the same strict set of rules regarding tattoo placement as the Hindus.

A Sanskrit tattoo design quoting one of the stanzas from the Mahabharata or Bagavadgita epics sure looks very impressive. If you understand the real meaning of your tattoo, it can help to inspire you when you are striving to overcome some obstacles in your life.