Why do we apply a mark on our forehead?

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Why do we apply a mark on our forehead?

 

The Tilaka is normally a vermilion mark applied on the forehead. This

mark has a religious significance and is a visible sign of a person

as belonging to the Hindu religion. The Tilaka is of more than one

color although normally it is vermilion.

 

It also does not have any standard shape and form and is applied

differently by members of different Hindu sects and sub-sects. It is

applied as a 'U' by worshippers of lord Vishnu and is red, yellow or

saffron in colpur. It is made up of red ochre powder (Sindhura) and

sandalwood paste (Gandha). Worshippers of lord Shiva apply it as

three horizontal lines and it consists of ash (Bhasma). Soot (Abhira)

is also used as a pigment for applying a Tilaka.

 

Literally, Tilaka means a mark. Sindhura which is also used to

describe a Tilaka means red and Gandha which is also a term for

Tilaka means pleasant odour. Hence, Tilaka normally connotes, a red

mark with a pleasant odour.

 

Some scholars have seen the red colour as a symbolism for blood. We

are told that in ancient times, in Aryan society, a groom used to

apply his blood, on-his bride's forehead as a recognition of wedlock.

The existing practice among Indian women of applying a round shaped

red Tilaka called Bindiya or Kumkum could be a survival of this.

 

 

There are a couple more explanations for why Hindus apply the " tilak "

mark on their foreheads. A spiritual explanation is that the " tilak "

symbolises the third eye that we believe in. A practical explanation

is that the " tilak " is a way to draw attention to the eyes which in

traditional Indian culture have been very strongly associated with

beauty.