Mundan Sanskar: The Right Age, Muhurat and Method

Hindu tradition prescribes sixteen samskaras, marking each significant passage of life from conception to the final rites. Mundan, or Chudakarma, is the eighth of these.

The purpose

In this ceremony the hair a child was born with is removed for the first time. Several reasons are given.

In the scriptural view, the hair present at birth is connected with impressions carried from previous lives, and removing it allows the child to enter this life clean.

In the practical view, it is held to improve the growth of the hair that follows and to cleanse the scalp.

A third view holds that the rite adds to the child's longevity and intelligence, which is why it is also described as ayushya vardhak.

The right age

Traditionally the ceremony is performed in an odd year: the first, third or fifth.

In some regions and families it is done within the first year, in others in the third.

The most reliable guide is your own family custom. Where none is clearly established, the third year is generally suitable.

Choosing the time

Several factors are weighed.

Among months, Magha, Phalguna, Vaishakha, Jyeshtha and Ashadha are favourable. Pausha and an intercalary month are avoided.

Among nakshatras, Ashwini, Mrigashira, Pushya, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Jyeshtha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha and Revati are the principal ones.

Among tithis, the second, third, fifth, seventh, tenth, eleventh and thirteenth are suitable. Rikta tithis and Amavasya are avoided.

Among weekdays, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are favourable. Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday are generally set aside.

Beyond the calendar, the position of the Moon in the child's own chart and the tara bala are checked.

The sequence

Ganesha worship and the installation of the kalash come first.

Then the nine planets are worshipped and the family deity invoked.

The sankalpa is taken, naming the child, the gotra and the purpose of the rite.

The child is seated in the lap of the maternal uncle or the father. The maternal uncle's lap carries particular significance in this tradition.

Before the barber begins, the pandit recites the mantras and symbolically cuts the first lock.

After the hair is removed the child is bathed, and turmeric, sandalwood or curd is applied to the scalp.

The rite closes with a homa, the arti, feeding of brahmins and charity.

What is done with the hair

The hair that is removed is not simply discarded. Tradition calls for it to be immersed in a sacred river or offered at the family deity's shrine.

Many families follow the custom of immersion in the Ganga. Where that is not possible, a clean body of water or the base of a tree is acceptable.

Points of care

The child should be in good health; the rite is postponed during illness.

Tradition advises postponing it while the mother is expecting.

It is not performed while the family is observing a period of ritual impurity following a birth or a death.

Keep the atmosphere calm and cheerful, since children are often frightened by the process.

For families abroad

Where the family lives outside India, the muhurat must be calculated for their own local sunrise, not for Indian time.

This is a technical point that is frequently overlooked. The start and end times of tithi and nakshatra shift with location, and a muhurat computed for India does not apply elsewhere.