symbolic hand gestures ยท in yoga, in dance, in icon, in prayer.
Mudra (Sanskrit: เคฎเฅเคฆเฅเคฐเคพ, "seal") is a symbolic hand gesture found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and classical Indian dance. Yogic tradition holds that each finger channels an element (thumb = fire, index = air, middle = ether, ring = earth, little = water), and connecting them redirects energy. In Bharatanatyam alone, the Abhinaya Darpana lists 28 single-hand (asamyukta) + 24 combined (samyukta) mudras. Below: the most widely practiced.