tilak

plural tilaks · alternative teeka · alternative tika · alternative tikka · alternative tilaka · alternative tilka

1. A mark or symbol worn on the forehead by Hindus, ornamentally or as an indication of status.

   I wore these spots of shine and silver like tilaks, the marks of colour that we Hindus wear on our foreheads as symbols of the divine.

   2001, Yann Martel, Life of Pi

   1 more example

   He dressed in a dhoti, had a wispy white beard that trailed down to his waist, and regularly smeared across his forehead a tilaka, a pitchfork-shaped design that signifies enlightenment.

   2012 April 30, Jake Halpern, “The Secret of the Temple”, in The New Yorker

1. A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.