first haircut

The tradition & historical record

The first haircut for a human has special significance in certain cultures and religions. It can be considered a rite of passage or a milestone. ¹

In Hindu tradition, from birth, hair is associated with less positive aspects of or qualities from past lives. Thus at the time of the shave, the child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving into the future. It is also said that the shaving of the hair stimulates proper growth of the brain and nerves, and that the sikha, a tuft at the crown of the head, protects the memory. Hindus practice a variety of rituals from birth to death. Collectively these are known as saṃskāras, meaning rites of purification, and are believed to make the body pure and fit for worship. A boy's first haircut, known as choula or mundan, is one such samskara and is considered an event of great auspiciousness. The lawbooks or smritis prescribe that a boy must have his haircut in his first or third year, though when a family does it varies in practice. A girl's first haircut typically occurs at eleven months of age. While complete tonsure is common, some Hindus prefer to leave some hair on the head, distinguishing this rite from the inauspicious tonsure that occurs upon the death of a parent. Those that practice complete tonsure generally ritually offer the hair to their family deity. Many travel to temples such as the famed Tirumala Venkateswara Temple of Lord Vishnu to perform this ceremony. ¹

At the twentieth day from birth, Maliku babies' heads are shaven and the hair is weighed against gold or silver, which is given to the poor. The ceremony is called boabeylun. ¹

Mongolian children get their first haircut in early ages between 2–5. Depending on the lunar calendar, boys receive their first hair cut in their odd year and girls in even year. The ritual of cutting the first hair is called Sevleg Urgeeh or Daahi Urgeeh. It is a big occasion for a whole family when guests are invited. Each guest cuts a strand of hair, saying their best wishes to the child, and gives a gift and money. ¹

Many Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish boys get their first haircut when they are three years old. The hair-cutting ceremony is known in Yiddish as the upsherenish or upsherin ("to shear off"). In Israel, this is sometimes referred to as ḥalaqah (from the Judeo-Arabic: חלאקה, "to shave").) In Israel, there are also non-religious families who adhere to this custom and do not cut their sons' hair until the age of three. A mass hair cutting ceremony is held on the holiday of Lag BaOmer at the tomb of Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai in the Galilean town of Meron. ¹

The Aqiqah ceremony involves shaving the child's head seven days after birth and anointing the child's head with saffron. It is traditional to give in charity gold or silver equal in weight to the hair. This does not have to be done by actually weighing the hair; if it is too difficult to do that, it is sufficient to estimate the weight and give paper currency equivalent to the price of that amount of gold or silver. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “First haircut”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

first haircut is event with a special significance in certain cultures and religions, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²