ash, sandalwood paste, turmeric, cow dung, clay, charcoal, or red lead

Ingredients

ash, sandalwood paste, turmeric, cow dung, clay, charcoal, red lead

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Tilak marks were applied to manuscripts at the end of veneration celebrations as the books were passed from hand to hand (p. 217). The materials used for these marks include ash from sacrificial fires, turmeric, sandalwood paste, and mineral pigments like red lead and clay (p. 217).

Evidence

"Tilak marks, generally made on the forehead with ash from a sacrificial fire, sandalwood paste, turmeric, cow dung, clay, charcoal, or red lead, indicate a person’s sectarian affiliation. They were also applied to sacred images... [and] each book."

Remarks

The palette of many guᅡakās is described as 'bold' in illustrations and illuminations, characteristic of the Kashmiri style (p. 216). Illustrations in some manuscripts, like Paris BnF sanscrit 1854, show extreme deterioration and rubbing from being touched during devotion (p. 218). In guᅡakā Leiden UBL Or. 18.060, paintings were cut out from older books and pasted into new volumes (p. 219).