VADAKALAI IYENGAR TILAK
VADAKALAI IYENGAR TILAK The Ramananujis are the followers of the first prominent Vishnuite reformer Ramanuj of Southern India in the eleventh or twelfth century. The Ramanujis address each other with the salutation ‘Dasoham’ or ‘I am your slave’. Ramanujis are also called Iyengars. Among the Iyengars following Sri Vaishnavism, there are two sects, namely Vadakalai and Tenkalai. The tilak or sect-mark of the Ramanujis - Vadakalai Iyengars, consists of two perpendicular white lines from the roots of the hair to the top of the eyebrows, with a connecting white line at the base and a third line either of red or yellow. It is widely believed that the two sects are distinctly different in origin.