Pranāma

Pranāma (Sanskrit: प्रणाम; IAST: praṇāma; meaning: "obeisance, prostration or bowing forward") is a form of respectful or reverential salutation (or reverential bowing) before something or another person – usually one's elders, spouse or teachers – as well as anyone deeply respected such as a deity, found in Indian culture and Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh traditions.

Pranama is derived from pra (Sanskrit: प्र) and ānama (Sanskrit: आनम); pra as prefix means "forward, in front, before, very, or very much", while ānama means "bending or stretching".

[3] There are following six types of Pranama:[4] It is a Hindu custom to apologize in the form of a hand gesture with the right hand when a person's foot accidentally touches a book or any written material (which are considered as a manifestation of the goddess of knowledge Saraswati), money (which is considered as a manifestation of the goddess of wealth Lakshmi) or another person's leg.

The offending person first touches the object with the fingertips and then the forehead and/or chest.

It is done in order to show respect towards elderly people like parents, grandparents, elderly relatives, guru (teachers), sadhu (saints) and sanyasis (monks).