Tilaka (Tree)
Tilaka · tilaka, “the tilaka tree”
Grammar: masculine noun; the name of a flowering tree.
Meaning: the tilaka tree, a flowering tree of the mountains, whose flowers are offered in the pūjā of the pitṛs.
In the scriptures: Brahmā tells the munis how the six ṛtus came to the wedding of Devī Pārvatī with Bhagavān Śiva on the Himavat. When Vasanta arrived, the flowering tilaka trees on the white snow peaks looked like elders who had come because it was an auspicious occasion (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 36).
In his teaching on śrāddha, Vyāsa names the flowers to be brought with effort for the pūjā of the pitṛs: jāji (jasmine), campaka, loddhra, mallikā, bāṇa-kusuma, barbari, aśoka, vṛntāśoka, aṭarūśa, mango blossom, tilaka, the lotus, gandha-śephālikā, kubjaka, tagara, āraṇya-mṛga, ketakī, yūthikā, atimukta, kamala, kumuda, padma and puṇḍarīka (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220).
Related terms: Pushpa · Śrāddha · Aśoka · Campaka · Vasanta
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 36, 220