TRIPUNDRA TILAK

TRIPUNDRA TILAK

Tripundra - the saivite ‘tilak’ dates back to the Rig Vedic period. Vedic people used to smear several parts of the body with ashes, ghee, etc. after the conclusion of ‘homa’ or ‘yagna’, which used to be the principal religious ceremony. With the passage of time, the practice of making tilaks got further segmented with the growth of Shaivite and Vaishnavite cults and evolved a varied style and texture which marks their own identity. Among the followers of the Hindu Trinity, Shaivites stand prominent and they mark their body with ‘bhasma’ and Tripundra tilaks. Bhasma means besmearing the body with ashes and Tripundra tilak is a drawing mainly of three horizontal lines with a ‘bindi’ or dot in varied sizes, either superimposed or drawn above or below between the two eyebrows. They are made with ashes and sandal paste of varied colour temperatures, each associated with a particular sect. The ash or ‘Bhasma’ is prepared out of burnt cow dung. It is said that in cow’s body, the goddess Lakshmi resides and so the cow dung is used for the tilak.