Actual reason of offering your hair at holy places || తలనీలాల వెనుక రహస్యం || TFC Spiritual Manchimata / Chitkalu
In Hindu tradition Mottai/shaving head/mundan/Gundu etc are done when the baby in 11 months old to clean the head which was in amniotic fluid of mother during the maternity. We need to wait till 11 month in order to let the skull strengthen (softest spot of an infant). Hair will be taken off at least thrice before kid turns 5.
Love is expressed in two ways: by what we give to our beloved and by what we give up for the sake of our beloved. For example, children can show their love for their parents by studying well and giving them a glowing report card. And they can also show their love by giving up playing before exams so as to focus on studies. Similarly, we can express our devotion for God by giving him precious things like jewels and also by giving up for his sake those things that distract us from him.
One prominent distraction is hair. Though we may say that hair is dirty, we consider it dirty only after it is cut off from the head. As long as it is on the head, we consider it a sign of beauty – a part of our hairstyle. We often obsess over it, arranging it, combing it and peeking frequently into a mirror to see if it needs to be re-arranged. Our obsession with hair makes us more infatuated with our body and thereby distracts us from deeper spiritual contemplation.
That’s why the Vedic-wisdom tradition urges us to curb this distraction. In keeping with this guideline, monks shave their heads permanently. The rest of us are recommended to at least shave our head when we go on a pilgrimage. By this, we express our devotion to God by giving up for his sake that which is so dear to us: our beloved hair. For women especially, this is no small sacrifice.
When we shave our head thus at Tirupati, what does Balaji see when the door to his house open? He is not baal-graahi; he is bhaava-graahi (He is eager not for hair, but for devotion). He doesn’t see kale baal, saphed baal, dandruff waale baal (He doesn’t see black hair, white hair, dandruff-infested hair). He sees the sacrifice, the devotion, the faith that is expressed through that hair.
Even a swan can separate milk from water and accept just the milk. God is the supreme hamsa, the paramahamsa. Why can he not separate the devotion from the hair and accept the devotion? If we think he can’t, then that’s probably because we can’t see beyond the dandruffs to the devotion.
Adults does this primarily for 2 reasons,
To thank god after getting what they wanted (mostly Mundan in Balaji temple is for this.)
After loosing somebody in immediate family
Few Information i’ve gathered,
Hair is black in color (for most indians), and this color has attracting quality. It attracts both positive and negative energy. If it is positive energy you will be over joyous if it is negative energy it will lead you to unwanted problems. It directly affects our emotions.
Growing hair is never an easy task, weak minds may go lunatic during full moon and no moon days. Even today, people with mental stress related illness are advised to shave off the head irrespective of gender. You don't believe me?? try a beard for 3 months and i bet you will feel the extremes of emotions. After all, beard is not for weaker man :-)
Adult grows hair right from the moment they want something. Everybody asks why and he is reminded of what he wants, also every morning seeing his face in mirror reminds him on why he grows hair. So when you are keen on what you want, you will eventually get it. You do not need any ‘one’ to get it for you. Once he gets it, he thankfully donates his hair which actually ensures he do not go high in emotions which he attracts from his family, friends and neighbors. Even high positive energy is not good if you do not know how to handle it.
After loosing a family member, they remove the hair because it attracts the sadness and add fuel to the fire(sadness) they are already in. This was done irrespective of gender in earlier days. There was a wrong understanding that removing hair is only to take off the beauty from women and stopped it in the middle. It is much beyond that.
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