Atharvan, for your knowledge...
In Hindu tradition, the hair from birth is
associated with undesirable traits from past lives. Thus at the time of the
mundan, the child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving
into the future. It is also said that the shaving of the hair stimulates proper
growth of the brain and nerves, and that the sikha, a tuft at the crown of the
head, protects the memory. A boy's first haircut, known as choula, is one such
samskara and is considered an event of great auspiciousness.
Atharvan was to have his head tonsuring in his 11th
month according to the Tamil calendar. And the date decided was 6th of August.
Originally the plan was to go our family temple then Tirupati. Finally we
decided to do it at the Dandayudhapani Temple in Vadapalani, here in Chennai
(http://murugan.org/temples/vadapalani.htm)
Your maternal uncle, Anand Saha came down from Beena (near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh) to be
part of the rituals & the festivities. We drove down from home to be in the temple by 9am
when the auspicious time was to begin.
Given your routine, you took a short nap and were still fast asleep when we reached the temple and finally the tonsuring mandap. It was kind of a boon in disguise as you were to be held by your uncle whom you haven’t met in a while and we were wondering ‘what if you don’t’ recognise and end up crying?’
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| At the tonsuring mandap |
Shortly after we settled down with you in your Uncle’s lap the barber got to work and in no time he was half way through with you still fast asleep. I got down to taking pictures & videos.
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| Am awake...what's happening? |
All of us, me, amma, taatha & paati had mixed reactions, happy and emotional about what was happening but at the same time scared about nicks & cuts and cautious about when you will get up, how you will react! And it did happen. Thanks to couple of nicks (rather big ones for a baby of your age) you did wake up, first wondering where you were and soon starting to cry rather loudly.
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| Up & crying! |
But luckily most of the tonsuring was over and the barber, am sure having enough experience of these situations, wasted no time in calmly finishing the rest of his work.
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| Just after tonsuring, ready for a bath! |
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| Bathing time! |
Once done your amma took you in her lap trying to console you. And soon you were taken for your bath. I while trying my bit to console you continued to capture the moments.
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| With tatha after tonsuring |
After the bathing you wore new clothes brought to you by taatha, still crying. Sandanam (Tamil for sandalwood power) was applied to your now clean shaven head.
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| With Amma in new clothes! |
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| Uncle applying Sandanam to you! |
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| With Uncle & Amma! |
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| Dadda, Amma & U! |
And a few snaps later we walked towards the temple.
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| Amma taking you to the temple |
Only after absorbing a few sights of people & rich art of the temple did you calm down bringing a smile on all of our faces. Once in, we visited a series of temples starting from Lord Ganesha and ending up with Lord Karthikeya where the traditional poojas were performed.
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| With Uncle after the Pooja |
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| With dadda! |
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| Looking at the temple ceiling! |
Seeing you back in your elements brought a smile on everybody’s face, as we admired your new ‘look’ and ‘hairstyle’!
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| Temple with Tatha & Paati |
Once done with the rituals & festivities we left the temple to get into the car and get back home. Probably exhausted, you did catch up on a quick nap back home!
By the way, did you notice tatha has a new look without his beard or moustache?
