Twelve Places on Body to Wear Tilak – After Remembering These Twelve Forms of Vishnu Residing In the Body
Staunch Vaishnava devotees wear tilak on twelve parts of the body. It is believed that Vishnu in twelve forms resides in these twelve parts of the body. Twelve forms of Vishnu residing in the twelve parts of the body are: Keshav resides on forehead Narayana in belly region Madhava in heart (chest) Govinda in throat (hollow of the throat) Vishnu on right side of belly Madhusudan right upper arm Trivikram in right shoulder (in some texts it is ears) Vaman in the left belly region Shridhar in left arm Hrishikesh in left shoulder (if Trivikram is for ears then both shoulders are believed to for Hrishikesh) Padmanabha on upper back Damodar on lower back. Thirteenth Spot - Note some people also put a tilak on the tuft (hair) and it is dedicated to Vasudeva. The twelve mantras to be chanted while applying Tilak are Om Keshavaya Namah Om Narayanaya Namah Om Madhavaya Namah Om Govindaya Namah Om Vishnuve Namah Om Madhusudanaya Namah Om Trivikramaya Namah