Reasons for shaving head of infants in Indian Culture?
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Anonymous
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I've come across different reasoning, and want the feedback with those with an Indian ancestry.
I was told by several Indian acquaintances it was part of a Hindu ritual. Yet, I know Indian people who do not practice Hinduism yet still keep this practice which makes me think it's cultural, and not so much religious. I asked a fairly close friend and she said they just did it because it made the babies hair coarser. All of her children, two girls and a boy got their hair shaved on their first birthday and they also received some gold jewelry. However, I have a Hindu coworker who says it's to get rid of the past digressions of the infants life? Because the belief of reincarnation is pretty strong in the Hindu religion. We are Jewish, but not Orthodox. Many of my relatives do not cut their boys hair till they are three for religious reasons, but it's not as common practice like it seems to be in the Indian culture. Any feedback? Also, this isn't meant as offensive I am just very curious. |
Anonymous
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See the explanation of the Mundan ceremony.
http://www.babycenter.in/a1015415/imundani-ceremony |
Anonymous
Right, but I know Christian Indians who still practice the head shaving. It also must be rooted in culture, not just religion. |
Anonymous
| I actually think it's religious and a lot of religions prevalent in India believe in it. Not sure about Christianity, but I know Muslims do the same; not a huge part of the Indian population is Muslim but I think a good 10-20% is. |
Anonymous
I think it started as a religious observation. However, just like things like fish on Friday (obviously not an Indian/Hindu tradition), it's become part of the culture too. |
Anonymous
| I heard (probably on DCUM) it was because they think the hair will grown back in thicker. |
Anonymous
| Not something that Indian Christians do - certainly not as a religious or cultural requirement. It may be done based on a belief that it results in a thicker crop of hair. |
Anonymous
Same reason many Mexican or Mexican-Americans shave their babies' hair |
Anonymous
a few hispanic people told me this who did it. |
Anonymous
I can't speak specifically about this situation. But I do know that Christianity came to India in many different waves. The early church came to parts of India, Goa was settled by Portuguese, etc. I think there are eight or ten individual sources of Christianity in India. It is possible that some of them adopted it in a syncretic way. We adopted Christmas when Christianity spread to the Germanic peoples. Any Christian will tell you it's religious and probably be offended if you claimed it was "cultural". After all, it's Jesus' birthday. But we weren't celebrating Jesus' Birthday at the end of December before that, and we weren't hanging Christmas trees or waiting for Santa. Many Haitians believe in Christianity and Vodou. Some do this by mapping the Haitian Loa to Saints in Christian history. The phenomenon is called syncretism. And it might be what is going on with the people you know. |
Anonymous
| Whenever I see this in developing countries, I figure it's to control lice. |
Anonymous
| It is common practice amongst Muslims, as it is part of the Sunna, or the practices of the Prophet Mohammad. Many feel it is required to "clean" the baby as the original hair is considered impure. Most people do it at least once or often more also because the believe is that the new hair will come out thicker and fuller. |
Anonymous
Nope. |
Anonymous
My Pakistani American friend told me the same thing. Her mom shaved both of her children's heads |