Identifying Vaishnavites and Shaivites

Srirangam is an island and part of the city of Tiruchirappalli aka Trichy, in South India. It is bounded by the Kaveri River aka Cauvery River on one side, and the Kaveri distributary Kollidam River aka Coleroon River on the other side.

Srirangam is home to a significant population of both (i) Vaishnavites (the followers of god Vishnu, the preserver, who worship their god at the 73m high Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple) and (ii) Shaivites (the followers of god Shiva, the destroyer, who worship their god at the nearby Sri Jambukeshwara Temple).

Many Shaivite devotees apply vibhuti as a white patch or as three horizontal lines across the forehead and other parts of the body to please their god Shiva. Three lines of vibhuti smeared across the forehead to the end of both eyebrows, usually together with a red dot, is called tripundra. The sacred white ash which is made of burnt dried wood in Agamic rituals is called vibhuti. Yellow sandalwood paste aka chandanam often completes a sophisticated and impressive vibhuti.

The Vishnu tradition related mark consisting of vertical lines is called urdhva pundra. It is a tilaka mark worn by Vaishnavites to show that they are devotees of Vishnu. It is generally worn on the forehead, but also on other parts of the body. The markings are made either as a daily ritual, or on special occasions, and denote which particular lineage, or sampradaya the devotee belongs to. The different Vaishnava sampradayas each have their own distinctive style of tilaka marks based on the siddhanta of their particular lineage. The general tilaka pattern is of two or more vertical lines resembling the letter U, which commonly represents the foot of Vishnu.

 

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