INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

Dastar bandhi the boy is treated as a young man and may wear turban in public
spaces.
In a Dastar bandhi ceremony I was invited to the family had installed the Guru
Granth Sahib in the living room at their house and invited a ragi jatha from the gurdwara
to perform devotional music to the fifty guests summoned. The young boy
about to receive his first turban was dressed in traditional pyjama kurta in silk and
wore a keski, the small under-turban. After the musical performance the granthi lead
the assembly in a standardized reading of Ardas and afterwards took a seat behind
the Guru Granth Sahib to take a Hukam for the occasion. The boy was requested to
seat himself before the scripture, surrounded by relatives, while the granthi arranged
the five-meter long maroon coloured cloth. With solemnized movements the granthi
wrapped the cloths around the boy’s head. When the tying procedure was completed,
he smartened up the turban and then exhorted all participants to cry out the Sikh
jaikara, which also marked the end of the religious part of the ceremony. The boy was
swamped with congratulations, gifts, and flattering comments from relatives and
friends, and proudly posed for photographers in his new garb. Large quantities of
food and sweets were served at the house that evening.
DONATING THE GIFT OF HAIR
Human hair has undoubtedly played a vital symbolic role in various religious traditions
in India and beyond. Prophets, saints and other spiritually gifted people are
often depicted as long-haired, sometimes with their spiritual powers intimately associated
with the hair. To understand the meanings and functions of unshorn hair in
various cultures anthropologists have sometimes resorted to psychological models of
interpretation to prove that human hair is associated with social control and sexuality.
According to Leach, a hair cut or shaving is the collective symbol for the social
transition of an individual from one stage to another. The bodily hair is an expression
of a strong human power and by a ceremonial mutilation of this power chaos is prevented.
607 Treading in similar footsteps, Hallpike suggests that the social function of
long hair is to demarcate the lack of social control and a marginal or “liminal” belonging,
whereas the ritual hair-cutting or shaving adds social control and signifies incorporation
into the society. 608 Considering that unshorn hair is one of five symbols that
Amritdhari should wear, Sikh scholars and apologetics have produced a bulk of literature
to explain the meanings and significations of these symbols. The Sikh rahit-nama
literature, or manuals of the codes of conduct that evolved from the beginning of the
eighteenth century, prescribes that the unshorn hair (kesh) of the Sikhs should be kept
with great respect. The Chaupa Singh Rahit-nama from the early eighteenth century, for
instance, takes great pains in giving practical instructions on how the Sikh hair
should be taken care of lest it be exposed to disgrace. The author of this text briefs us
607
Leach 1958.
608
Hallpike 1979.
362
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008