Why do men offer their hair to God?
It is a longstanding ritual in some of the cultures across the globe where men and women shave their heads and offer their hair to a god in return for a favour. People, over the centuries, have ridiculed it as weird ceremony which has no spiritual bearing.
These allegations are not without reason. It is these same cultures that consider tonsuring their heads holy, consider hair inferior. They even use this very word as a derogatory term to refer a person who is dull/lame/stupid.
To quote a dialogue from a Tamil movie, Ratha Kaneer(Tears of blood), "Uyira kodutha kadavullukku mayiraya da kodukura?"(Is it fair to offer the lord your hair? - Sarcastic) sums up the contradiction in the beliefs of these cultures.
In this article, I am not going to defend/criticize the practise because fools will always be fools(Note: I haven't said who the fools are, the ones who shave their heads or the ones who don't. I leave that to your judgement). Instead, I am going to write how such a practise came into being because that kindled the curiosity within me when I heard someone quote the dialogue from Ratha Kaneer I have mentioned above.
In Religion:
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In Hinduism, though there are many myths/stories lying behind this, there is one that is prominent. The story goes like... When Vishnu married Alamelu, he incurred a large debt which he was not able to repay to his creditor, Lord Kuberan. Even after giving away everything he owned, he still came way short on what he owed. So Kuberan came up with a suggestion that forced the debt upon Vishnu's devotees who are to offer their belongings to repay their lord's debt. Starting with their hair.
In Buddhism, it is the said when Siddhartha chose a life of renunciation, the first thing he left behind was his hair. So any who chooses a holy life is bound to shed his hair to mark that holy path he walked.
Even a few sects in Christianity/Islam/and many other various religions follow practise. I will go into the details of their religious binding behind all these religions because the practise far and few.
Then there are other religions which forbid cutting of hair. I am going into this either.
In Science:
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Now, I shall only be speaking for the regions I come from in this sub-heading. Taking a close look at local religious festivals in southern part of India, one thing will catch your eye. All of them are celebrated during summer and all of them insist on ritual hair shaving. Well, what does that tell you? Maybe it's true that there is some science behind it.
Losing your hair in summer can help in reduced perspiration in the head and hence to keep away summer cold which if not taken proper care of could lead to complications in the long run. I know of many people who have run into these complications and who take every measure to avoid it.
In philosophy:
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For some philosophers who were bound by no religion nor science, the above explanations were not sufficient. So they went in search of more and came up with something interesting.
In a country like India where men see facial hair as means of self-expression, losing it would mean losing your identity. According to these people, it is a means of letting go of your ego in front of a super being.
It is means of becoming a part of the universe.
However strange it might seem, there is certainly some mystery behind offering god your hair. I will keep searching till the mystery settles.
These allegations are not without reason. It is these same cultures that consider tonsuring their heads holy, consider hair inferior. They even use this very word as a derogatory term to refer a person who is dull/lame/stupid.
To quote a dialogue from a Tamil movie, Ratha Kaneer(Tears of blood), "Uyira kodutha kadavullukku mayiraya da kodukura?"(Is it fair to offer the lord your hair? - Sarcastic) sums up the contradiction in the beliefs of these cultures.
In this article, I am not going to defend/criticize the practise because fools will always be fools(Note: I haven't said who the fools are, the ones who shave their heads or the ones who don't. I leave that to your judgement). Instead, I am going to write how such a practise came into being because that kindled the curiosity within me when I heard someone quote the dialogue from Ratha Kaneer I have mentioned above.
In Religion:
----------
In Hinduism, though there are many myths/stories lying behind this, there is one that is prominent. The story goes like... When Vishnu married Alamelu, he incurred a large debt which he was not able to repay to his creditor, Lord Kuberan. Even after giving away everything he owned, he still came way short on what he owed. So Kuberan came up with a suggestion that forced the debt upon Vishnu's devotees who are to offer their belongings to repay their lord's debt. Starting with their hair.
In Buddhism, it is the said when Siddhartha chose a life of renunciation, the first thing he left behind was his hair. So any who chooses a holy life is bound to shed his hair to mark that holy path he walked.
Even a few sects in Christianity/Islam/and many other various religions follow practise. I will go into the details of their religious binding behind all these religions because the practise far and few.
Then there are other religions which forbid cutting of hair. I am going into this either.
In Science:
-----------
Now, I shall only be speaking for the regions I come from in this sub-heading. Taking a close look at local religious festivals in southern part of India, one thing will catch your eye. All of them are celebrated during summer and all of them insist on ritual hair shaving. Well, what does that tell you? Maybe it's true that there is some science behind it.
Losing your hair in summer can help in reduced perspiration in the head and hence to keep away summer cold which if not taken proper care of could lead to complications in the long run. I know of many people who have run into these complications and who take every measure to avoid it.
In philosophy:
-------------
For some philosophers who were bound by no religion nor science, the above explanations were not sufficient. So they went in search of more and came up with something interesting.
In a country like India where men see facial hair as means of self-expression, losing it would mean losing your identity. According to these people, it is a means of letting go of your ego in front of a super being.
It is means of becoming a part of the universe.
However strange it might seem, there is certainly some mystery behind offering god your hair. I will keep searching till the mystery settles.
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