Namast, all,
A recent question in the Shakta thread has me thinking again about tilak. I find this aspect of Hindu practice to be beautiful and intriguing, and while I've read several threads on HDF addressing certain tilak-related issues (tilaks associated with specific Devas, for instance), I haven't found any discussions of tilak in general.
The subject is a bit confusing, though interesting. I've read, for example, that the most widely used substances are white sandalwood, kumkum, turmeric, and vibhuti, but have seen photographs of tilak-wearing folks with dots of bright pink, black, and other colours.
I've read reasons for tilak application ranging from tilak worn for protection, devotion, and mystical 'identification', to tilak worn because of custom or sect, so the explanations available seem to differ a bit.
There is also the placement of tilak that varies, most commonly at the 'third eye,' but sometimes the entire forehead, or streaking up the middle of the forehead, or on various parts of the body as well as the head.
What do all of these different aspects mean?
-What is the significance of the shape - the three lines worn by Shaivites as opposed to the dot worn by Shaktas, etc.? Why three lines instead of two, or horizontal lines instead of vertical ones, for instance?
-Is there a significance to the location - part of the forehead versus the entire forehead, for instance?
-The same question applies to the substance - I understand that groups choose particular substances that are sacred to their revered deity, such as ash for Shaivites, but do the substances themselves possess particular qualities outside of the deity associations? (I'm thinking they do, after one thread earlier asked a relevant question: why Shaivite women never seemed to wear vibhuti, only men. Ash does seem more specific to men, and kumkum more associated with women, so this seems to imply that the substances themselves have different properties.)
-Is there is a "vocabulary" of tilak - as exists with hand gestures in dance and sculpture, for example? Is there a way to interpret a tilak that one sees, to "read" and understand elabourate designs such as in the top banner photograph here?
-Are there any texts that I could read to understand this subject better?
I'd love to learn and discuss, assuming that anyone's still reading this after my long rambling.
Indraneela
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Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.
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