INO Glossary: Tilak
A tilak or tilaka is a mark made on the forehead and other parts of the body with ash, sandal paste, or kumkum. Different cults tend to use different substances and marks.
Worshipers of Shiva such as the Naths, use ash to make a tilak of three horizontal lines.
Worshipers of Shakti (Shaktas) use kumkum to make a single vertical line or a dot—called a bindi—between the eyes.
Worshipers of Vishnu use sandal paste to make a tilak of two vertical lines connected at the bottom.