Symbols worn by Vaisnavas on the Body

[Guest guest]

Can somebody explain the Vaisnava namaalu, that is the symbols on the

different parts of the body? What is the material used, what is the

significance of each symbol and its location. Any personal experiences

that you can recount.

 

Eswar

[Guest guest]

The symbol is called "Urdhva pundra" in Sanskrit.

In Tamil, the white part is called "thirumaN" and

the red part "sri chUrNam". The whole thing is

often referred to as "thirumaN" or "nAma", since

each thirumaN placed on the body represents a

different name of Sriman Narayana.

 

thirumaN means holy mud. It is made from a claylike

mud that is only available in certain places, notably

in present-day Melkote in Karnataka State. The red

substance either contains turmeric or is plain kumkum.

Some people use plain yellow turmeric instead of

red, but this is less common.

 

The primary place for the urdhva pundra is on the

forehead. The two white lines represent the feet

of the Lord, and the red line represents Lakshmi

Thaayar who is everpresent with him. The Azhvaars

refer to this tradition of wearing the pundra as

"wearing the feet of the Lord on one's head",

representing one's eternal relation as his servant.

 

The pundras are also worn by the orthodox on 11

other places on the body. This is an expression

of God's omnipresence, as well as the bearer's

dedication of his body to the Lord's service.

 

Women also wear the urdhva pundra, except that

traditionally the thirumaN portion is smaller

and looks like a crescent shaped moon.

 

These days, most lay Sri Vaishnavas simply wear

the sri chUrNam.

 

Mani

 

P.S. It seems that Ramanuja initiated the tradition

of only using the special white clay for the thirumaN.

One Azhvaar remarks that even ash can be used (anathema

to some Vaishnavas due to its connection with Siva),

but best would be the dust of the feet of other devotees!

[Guest guest]

I sure do agree with the symbolic meaning of the thirumaN, but have always

wondered why the lord himself does have to put that nAmam on?, is it just to

ascertain that the lord in that form is none other than nArAyaNa or did it

begin with Ramanuja?. I was perusing a book a few days back and it had some

allegations that Ramanuja was the one that put the thirumaN on

ThiruvEngaDamudayAn

etc. Does anybody have any explanations regarding this??

 

--sriram