[Kāmakṣī Amman Koil gopūram, Kāñcīpūram, Tamil Nadu. Photo by: unknown (no copyright infringement intended) please contact for credit]
Tripurasundarī is described in multiple śāstras as being various expressions of the color red. The dhyāna sloka of the Lalitā Sahasranāma is permeated with such descriptions of her "redness." The mantras describe her body as the color of a beautiful red morning sunrise [sindūraruṇa vigrahām], adorned with red jewelry [māṇikya mauli sphurat], red flowers [raktotpalam bibhratīṃ], auspicious red markings [sakuṅkuma vilepanāṃ] and red feet [rakta caraṇāṃ].
In the sahasranāma itself the red qualities expand as she is described as the radiance of a thousand rising suns [udyad bhānu sahasrābhā] whose form shines throughout the universe as a brilliant rose colored splendor [nijāruṇa prabhā pūra majjad brahmāṇḍa maṇḍala]. Her cheeks are described as rosy red [mada pāṭala gaṇḍa bhūḥ] and her body as the color of a rosy morning sun [taruṇāditya pāṭalā]. She wears a brilliant red sindūra mark on her forehead [sindūra tilakāṇcitā], and is a deep red color [rakta varṇā].
The color red in Hinduism has a number of associations such as attraction, rajas, activity, and even blood! Lesser known is the esoteric meaning given by Amṛtānanda [14th c.] who commented twice in his commentary on the yoginīhṛdaya [YH: 3.94&163] स्वसंवित् त्रिपुरा देवी लौहित्यं तद्विमर्शनम् "Tripurā's red color is the reflective awareness of one's own recognition that one is consciousness." Other tantric sources go further and state that one's own consciousness is Lalitā, whose form is the universe, and whose redness is the reflective awareness of consciousness.
Some maṇḍalis suggest her redness is not representative of raja guṇa, but Bhāskararāya's interpretation seems to differ. He wrote on the close connection between awareness and passionate attachment by showing how awareness, the goddess, passion, and redness are all interconnected through a brilliant analysis of the words rāga and anurāga.
Tripursundarī's redness is vimarśa śakti, the active contemplative [reflective] power of consciousness. The unbroken light of undifferentiated consciousness is Śiva, often depicted as white. Together, red and white [as Śakti-Śiva] are the totality of awareness-reality and are instantiated throughout tantric imagery, substances, philosophy, and sādhanā.
