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Chudakarana

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Published 2026-09-04 · region: pan-Hindu · Saath Wikilifecycle

Calendar timing

1st-3rd year (sometimes odd year)

Stories & history

The first hair given awaypan-Hindu

Chudakarana is the first head-shaving. The hair the child was born with is removed and, in most traditions, given — to a river, to a temple, or buried — rather than kept. What the tradition marks is the giving away rather than the cutting.

The vow discharged at a templewidely told

Very many families do not perform this at home at all but at a temple, as the discharge of a vow made before the child was born or during an illness. In those households the tonsure and the pilgrimage are a single event, and the temple, not the age, decides when it happens.

Symbolism & meaning

Core symbolism
The first haircut — the hair the child was born with removed and given away.
Meaning
The rite is simple and the reasons given for it are several: that the birth hair belongs to the time before, that the giving of it discharges something owed, that it is good for the hair that grows after. Families rarely insist on one. What is consistent is that the hair is not simply thrown out — it goes to a river, a temple, or the earth — and that a tuft is often left at the crown, though whether it is and what it means differs between communities. It is frequently the child's first temple journey.

Procedure

  1. Invocation. Ganesha and the family deity are invoked; where the rite discharges a vow, the vow is named.
  2. The first cut. The father, or the officiating purohit, makes a symbolic first cut.
  3. The tonsure. The head is shaved. Whether a tuft is left at the crown differs by community.
  4. Bath and dressing. The child is bathed and dressed in new clothes; turmeric or sandal paste is applied to the head.
  5. The hair given. The hair is given to a river, offered at the temple, or buried, as the family's custom holds.

Materials needed

  • A razor, and a silver blade or scissors for the symbolic first cut where used
  • Turmeric or sandal paste for the head
  • New clothing for the child
  • A cloth or vessel to receive the hair
  • Akshata, flowers and kumkum

Family participation

  • Makes the symbolic first cut — Father
  • Holds the child through the tonsure — Mother, or a grandparent
  • Performs the shaving — Barber, or the temple's attendant
  • Officiates and recites — Purohit (optional)

Keep reading

Image: Unsplash/Pexels/Pixabay: No (recommended). Wikimedia/Google-CC: Yes (CC-BY-SA: name photographer + link).

From the Saath Wiki — aggregated across communities, with regional attribution. Suggest an edit to improve your community's practice.