Rites of passage

Cutting and shaving rites

The mundan shaves a Hindu child's birth hair; the upsherin gives a Jewish boy his first haircut at three; the aqiqah shaves a Muslim baby's head on the seventh day. Buddhist ordination shaves the head as a sign of leaving worldly life. In mourning, many Hindu sons shave their heads after a parent's death. When a sumo wrestler retires, his topknot is cut in the danpatsu-shiki, and ancient Egyptian children's sidelocks were cut at puberty.

Coming of age

In Joseon Korea, a boy's braid was tied up into a sangtu topknot at his capping ceremony or marriage, the mark of adulthood. In Rwanda, unmarried women wore amasunzu crests from about 18. Among the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, young warriors grow long braided hair dressed with red ochre, which is shaved when they become elders. Such rites show how hair turns a private body into a public statement.

Famous rites of passage hairstyles

Head shaving in HinduismThe mundan and mourning shaveUpsherinThe Jewish first haircutTonsureShaving on entering religious lifeSidelock of youthCut at puberty in ancient EgyptAmasunzuWorn by Rwandan women of marriageable ageSangtuThe Korean coming-of-age topknotChonmageCut off when a sumo wrestler retires

Further reading

• Head shaving in Hinduism on Wikipedia
• Upsherin on Wikipedia