Vaishnavism (Vaisnava dharma) is one of the major branches of Hinduism along with Shaivism, Smartism, and Shaktism. It is focused on the veneration of Vishnu. Vaishnavites, or the followers of the Vishnu, lead a way of life promoting monotheism, which gives importance to Vishnu and his ten avatars. Vaishnava Tattva was first introduced by Saint Madhvacharya also the word Madhwas were termed to identify the followers of Acharya Madhwa, in practice it has been generally referred to Vaishnava Brahmins following Madhvacharya's teaching. All Madhwas are Vaishnavas who believe in Vishnu as the supreme entity (Sarvottama), Vayu as the supreme living entity (Jeevottama) and all other devatas (Shiva, Parvathi, Ganga, Brahma, Saraswathi, Indra, Manmatha..) as the family of Lord Vishnu. The Vaishnava Sampradaya mark two vertical lines with Gopichandana representing Lord Narayana's or Krishna's 'lotus feet'. In between a vertical black line is made from the daily coal of the dhupa (incense). In this sampradaya, worship is done to Narayana or Krishna daily. The coal left after offering incense is used to mark the black line. This is called as Angara. Underneath the black line, red dot is added to indicate that one has finished eating their lunch.This dot is called as Akshate. Followers worship Vishnu, the Supreme Lord and preserver of the Hindu Trimurti ('three images', the Trinity), and his ten avatars, including Rama and Krishna. The adherents of this sect are generally non-ascetic, monastic and devoted to meditative practice and ecstatic chanting. They are deeply devotional. Their religion is rich in saints, temples and scriptures. Its beliefs and practices, especially the concepts of Bhakti and Bhakti Yoga, are based largely on the Upanishads, and associated with the Vedas and Puranic texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, and the Padma Purana, Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana.
