Tirupati tonsure

Tonsure: mokku

Thousands of pilgrims shave their heads before darshan every day; the rite is called mokku. Legend explains it: Venkateswara was wounded on the head and lost a lock of hair, and princess Nila Devi gave him one of her own. Moved by the sacrifice, the Lord promised a blessing to everyone who brings him their hair. The meaning runs deeper than the legend, though: in Indian culture hair is beauty, selfhood, attachment to the outside, and shaving the head means coming to God without masks. Men, women and children stand in one queue and leave it looking the same.

Before darshan. The shaving is done in the temple's own Kalyana Katta hall (free, and no booking).