Faith and religious orders

Styles required or chosen for religious reasons: kesh, the tonsure, the payot. 29 hairstyles on EveryHairstyle so far.

Hair has a place in almost every faith. Some ask believers to keep it uncut, like Sikh kesh and the locks of the Rastafari; some to shave it, like Buddhist monks and nuns and Hindus making offerings; some to leave a part, like the Jewish payot and the Hindu shikha; and some to cover it, as many Muslim, Jewish and Christian women do. These customs are described here with respect and as their communities understand them.

Kept, shaved or covered

Sikhs keep kesh, uncut hair, as one of the five Ks and cover it with a dastar. Many Hindu men keep a shikha, and Hindus shave their heads at temples, at a child's mundan and in mourning. Buddhist monastics shave at ordination. Many Orthodox Jewish men grow payot, and married women cover their hair. Many Muslim women wear a hijab, and Muslim men shave or trim their hair at the end of the Hajj. Rastafari grow locks under the Nazirite vow.

Faith and rules

Religious hair practices have often met rules of schools, armies and employers. Sikh soldiers have long served in turbans in the Indian Army and, after legal campaigns, are allowed to in the American and Canadian forces. Rastafarian students have gone to court over locs in Jamaica, Ghana and Britain. Rules on headscarves in schools and public jobs are debated in several countries, with arguments about religious freedom on one side and secularism or neutrality on the other.