Auspicious marks, of sacred clay and other substances, applied daily on the forehead (and sometimes on various limbs as well) to dedicate one's body to God.

auspicious clay markings placed by devotees on the forehead and other parts of the body.

red-colored mark on the forehead, put by married women

In Hinduism: Auspicious clay marks that sanctify a devotee's body as a temple of the Lord.

yellow clay from the holy rivers of India applied by the v a i s h n a v a s in the form of a tuning-fork with a leaf of t u l s i in clay on the nose and the forehead (and other places of the body) as a token of submission to the teaching.