Living tradition, India
Varanasi
Shiva's city on the Ganges, where the tilak and the three ash lines of the tripundra are applied at the ghats every morning.
Varanasi, on the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the most sacred city of Shiva. At its ghats, the stone steps down to the river, pilgrims bathe at dawn and then have a tilak applied by priests and attendants. The Shaiva tripundra of ash, the red kumkum dot and the sandalwood tilak are everywhere.
Marks of devotion
Devotees of Shiva wear the tripundra, three horizontal lines of vibhuti, sacred ash, across the forehead, often with a red dot in the centre. Ascetics may smear ash across the whole body. Followers of other traditions wear their own marks: the vertical urdhva pundra of Vaishnavas, or a red tilak of kumkum or sandalwood paste. At the ghats, attendants with trays of pastes apply tilaks for a small offering.
The ghats and the temple
The Kashi Vishwanath Temple, dedicated to Shiva, stands near the river at the heart of the old city, and a new corridor linking it to the ghats opened in 2021. The evening Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat draws crowds each night. Barbers on the ghats also shave the heads of mourners and pilgrims, a rite of loss and of renewal in many Hindu families.
