Symbols in Indian Culture

I was in the temple on the day of Deepavali and I suddenly noticed all these symbols around me. The diyas, the flowers on which the gods are standing, etc. Why do we need symbols? In Da Vinci code, a book by Dan brown, the hero is symbologist and a Professor at Harvard.

Obviously symbols are very much ingrained in all the societies of the world. I don't really know about other cultures but surely comment on Indian culture. The main symbols which we identify ourselves are the bindi and the diya. Let me try to understand what these symbols stand for...

Bindi

Tilakam or popularly known as bindi is worn by women, particularly married women on their foreheads between the eyes. This is for sure a symbol, but what does it symbolise? Not the marital state because most of the unmarried girls in south India wear a bindi. Is it a statement of vanity? most people think that it symbolises the third eye, which is suppose to be the eye of knowledge. Tilakam was worn by everyone including all men and it suddenly fell out of fashion and is now worn by women.


A beautiful face with a equally beautiful Bindi

I am sure it must symbolise something. It's a common practice to apply tilakam when one visits a temple, therefore it may symbolise your bhakti or nearness to god, or sharing something which has been offered to Gods. May that's the reason, it is a symbols for your devotion.

Diya

||tamasoma jyotirgamaya||
means let the light from diya fill the darkness. So on Diwali/deepavali people light lamp symbolising the victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance.
Diya is lighted almost daily before the god; agni(fire) is supposedly the medium by which one can communicate with the Gods. The fire on the jyoti also represents energy, considered the part of the divine energy source which we one is worshipping; a text book example of symbol.

A bunch beautiful Diyas
There are many such examples of symbols in our daily life; for example Swastiska symbol, which was made infamous by Hitler and The Golden eagle, symbol of the USA. Since prehistoric times, we humans have been drawing symbols, symbolizing rituals, branding ourselves.