Lakshmi Namakatti

Description

Lakshmi Namakatti is natural white clay pressed into short sticks. In Tamil practice it is called namakatti or thiruman, and it is the clay used to draw the vertical white tilak worn by Vaishnavites.

A stick is rubbed on a wet stone or against a wet finger until it gives a smooth white paste, then drawn on the forehead, and in temples the same clay marks the pillars and the doorway. It is a Southern item that is genuinely hard to find outside Indian shops in the Netherlands, which makes it worth picking up when you see it.

How do you use a stick of namakatti? Wet one end, rub it on a smooth stone or on your palm until it turns to paste, then apply with the finger. Rubbing it on dry will not mark properly and only wears the stick down.

Is this the same as chandan? No. Chandan is sandalwood and gives a yellow or off-white line. Namakatti is a clay and gives a chalk-white one. They belong to different traditions and are not interchangeable.

The nearest thing to it on the same shelf is the white chandan powder in a 50 gram pack, and South Indian pooja supplies at Panjab Supermarket holds the rest of the tilak powders. Not for consumption. Keep the sticks somewhere dry, because damp clay softens and crumbles. Order online at Panjab Supermarket for same-day delivery across Nieuwegein, Utrecht, Leidsche Rijn, Vleuten, Maarssen, Zeist, Bunnik, IJsselstein, Vianen, and Culemborg. Free delivery on orders over 49 euros.