Why do we apply tilak?
Three horizontal lines of ash, a white U with a red line, a red dot — the mark on a Hindu forehead often tells you whom the wearer worships. Why the forehead, and what does each mark mean?
A mark of the sacred
Tilaka is a mark applied on the forehead — with sandal paste (chandan), sacred ash (vibhuti), kumkum, turmeric or clay — after bathing, before worship, and at every ceremony. Placed between the eyebrows, it marks the point tradition associates with the ajna chakra, the "command centre" of attention and insight.
Reading the marks
Different traditions wear different tilakas, and to those who know them, the forehead is a statement of faith…
The journey continues for members
- The main marks
- Belief and claims
- For life today
Sources
- Puranic and Agamic traditions — on pundra and tripundra
- Brihajjabala Upanishad — on bhasma (vibhuti)