📜 Significance:
Mundan Sanskar is one of the essential Hindu samskaras (rites of passage), signifying the shaving of a child’s first hair. It is believed that the hair from birth carries past life negativity, and shaving it helps purify the child’s body and soul. In Maharashtra, this ceremony is performed to invoke divine blessings, promote healthy hair growth, and mark the child’s spiritual and physical growth.
🗓️ When It’s Performed:
- Usually done during the 1st or 3rd year of a boy’s life (odd years), and sometimes in the 1st or 2nd year for girls
- Best performed during auspicious nakshatras like Ashwini, Mrigashira, Pushya, or Chitra
- Preferably in spring or autumn months or during family’s chosen muhurat
- Date and time should be decided by a Panditji as per the child’s janma kundali (birth chart)
🛐 Who Can Perform:
- Performed by the father or maternal uncle under the guidance of a Panditji
- Usually takes place at home, temple, or holy sites like Nashik, Tryambakeshwar, or riversides
- A barber or traditional hair remover is arranged for the head-shaving
📦 Puja Samagri (Items Required):
- Kalash with coconut and mango leaves
- Diya, agarbatti, camphor
- Haldi, kumkum, sandalwood, akshata (rice)
- New clothes and towel for child
- Ghee, honey, curd, and turmeric paste
- Sweet rice (kheer), fruits, flowers, dry fruits
- Small blade or razor (for shaving), clean mirror, antiseptic
- Panchamrit, betel leaves, supari
- Prasad and food for Brahmins or guests
🕯️ Main Rituals:
- Ganesh Puja and Sankalpa – For auspicious beginning
- Child’s purification bath and dressing in fresh clothes
- Punyahavachan and Kalash Sthapana
- Mundan Ritual – Barber shaves the baby’s head while mantras are chanted
- In some families, a tuft of hair (shikha) is left on the crown
- Application of turmeric/sandalwood paste to the shaved head
- Aarti, blessings, and prasad distribution
- Offering hair to a river or temple deity if tradition requires
⏳ Duration:
Approximately 1 to 1.5 hours
🎁 Benefits of Mundan Sanskar:
- Removes past life impurities and promotes spiritual cleansing
- Encourages healthy hair regrowth and scalp hygiene
- Protects the child from evil influences and promotes sharp intellect
- Brings ancestral blessings and auspicious start to early life stages
- Creates positive energy and strengthens parent–child bonding
