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Hair is a matter of pride for Indians, especially for women - that's why you see many Indian ladies maintain long hair. Indian women of all ages love to adorn their hair with fragrant and colourful flowers that are strung together on a thread.
My 93 year old grandma is suffering from dementia and is not able to care for her hair so my aunt cut it. Even though my grandmother is senile, she keeps on lamenting that her hair is cut, saying of her past memory that hair is cut for ladies as punishment for adultery in her maiden days. My grandmother would cry - saying that she did not do anything wrong to have her hair snipped off. In those times, petty thieves, robbers and eloping couples of different castes would have their heads shaven off in front of the people of the village as punishment.
In the olden days, after sati was outlawed, widows had their heads shaven - they are considered a symbol of asceticism and shame as well as inferiority so they heads get shaven so that no man would look at them and succumb to carnal desire - in that era, widows were forbidden to remarry.
So, we can see a pattern forming right here - the losing of hair means submission, punishment and asceticism - all of it take angles..
In that past era as well, Brahmins are supposed to lead austere lives - Brahmins, especially those who work as priests in temples and students at Gurukul. They would leave a wisp of hair on top of their heads and it's known as 'kudumi' in Tamil.
Hindus can have his or her tonsured any time of the year at any temple for that matter.
Babies born into Hindu families have their head tonsured when they are 5 months old. This is done in the belief based on reincarnation; the hair is said to bear the memories of the previous life so it should be removed for the baby to lose its connection with its previous birth. It is also believed that shaving hair promotes hair growth of the baby. It is a false belief; the health of the scalp determines the rate of hair growth, the strength in the hair roots. Shaving does not make one's hair grow better.
Another symbolism of head tonsuring is surrendering pride, ego and selfishness to god and it can be done at any time of the year, not exclusively on Thaipusam as it is mostly done in Tamil community. Head tonsuring is also done to fulfill vows made to gods on the base of, "If you give me a son, I'll come to your resting temple and shave my head as a sign of gratitude and faith," and numerous other examples. Head tonsuring is also done for penance and absolution.
The shaven hair at the Palani and Thirupati temple in India supplies material to wig industry of the West. Americans love Indian hair. Chris Rock went to Thirupati to get to the bottom of this lucrative business in the documentary, 'Good Hair.'
MR Radha (an Indian actor and the Indian answer for George Carlin) once quoted regarding this custom:
"Adei, usure kuduthe kadavulukku neenggeh masure kudukiringgele da." (You give hair to the god who gave you life) Masuru/mairu means hair in Tamil but it is regarded as a slur. It's basically derogatory but thought provoking to say the least
Lastly,when a man dies,his sons shave their head and light his funeral pyre as a belief that only then their father attains "moksha" or Nirvana (not to be confused with the rock band Nirvana.) Moksha means the unification of a soul with god - the soul would no longer assume rebirths in accordance with its karma. It achieves eternal bliss and moksha is the ultimate goal of every Hindu.
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