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> So why is it that very young Hindu boys (anywhere from 1 to 3) get their > heads shaved? One correction before I share my personal opinion in the matter. The ritual is by no means limited to small hindu boys. Adults of either sex have done it and do it with great devotion and gusto. There are two significat parts in the offering to the lord of seven hills, srI venkaTEswara. One is to go around pan handling for expenses for the trip and second is shaving the head. Both are done by people no matter how rich they are or how poor they are and what their 'social status' is. I think it is simply an ego cleansing exercise. It is very difficult for a man of self respect and ego to go on the street and beg for alms to help go to tirupati. Similarly, shaving the head (while it is sometimes a fashion- a la sinead Oconnor and yul brinner; and sometimes a statement like the skin heads) and going around bare headed is a humiliating exercise. Gradually over time the less humble have resorted to wearing hats to cover their heads or simply giving 'three cuts' of hair, rather than shaving their head. Overcoming the ego and showing the humility is an approved route to salvation and hence these practises, I would like to say. There are two other less non egotistical practises associated with devotion to venkaTEswara. 1. tumbling around the temple ground several times (porlu danDAlu) and giving evrything on the body (niluvu dOpiDi). A mundane and hygenic reason for shaving the head may be to get rid of lice and dandruff. regards.
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