Mundan

Different families perform this ceremony at different ages. Mundan must be performed in odd months or years. As in all Sanskaara, family, friends and a Hindu priest get together in the home or in a temple. Vedic Hindu Mantras are recited, a sacred fire (Havan/Homa) is evoked and the priest, with the help of the father or maternal uncle, cuts small locks of hair from four sides of the child’s head. After this ritual cutting, the child’s hair is completely shaved.
There is a belief that the first hair from the time of birth is impure and so by shaving it purifies, however the point of the Sanskaara is that it is a sacrifice. The parents of the child sacrifice the hair of their child by shaving and in exchange they pray to God for long life and prosperity for their child.