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Sacred site, India

Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj

The meeting of rivers where couples perform veni daan, the offering of a wife's plait, and pilgrims shave before bathing.

The Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj is the meeting of the Ganges, the Yamuna and, by tradition, the hidden Saraswati. It is the site of the largest Kumbh Mela, held most recently as the Maha Kumbh in early 2025. Pilgrims often shave their heads before bathing at the confluence, and married couples, many from Maharashtra and South India, perform the veni daan, the gift of the braid.

Veni daan

In the veni daan, a husband combs and plaits his wife's hair at the Sangam, and the tip of the braid, from a few centimetres to a larger part, is cut and offered to the rivers. Couples see it as a renewal of their marriage vows and a prayer for a long marriage. The rite is particular to Prayag, and accounts of how much hair is cut differ between families and priests. The word veni, a braid, is the same word used for jasmine strands worn in the hair.

Shaving at the confluence

Many pilgrims, especially men, have their heads shaved by barbers on the riverbank before their holy dip, a practice that has given Prayag a reputation as a place of tonsure. Some keep a shikha. During the Kumbh and the annual Magh Mela, the barbers' stalls stretch along the sandbanks. Shaving here is also part of rites for the dead, as at Varanasi and Gaya.

Hairstyles of Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj

BraidThe plait offered in the veni daanHead shaving in HinduismPilgrims shave before bathingShikhaThe crown tuft kept after shaving

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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