Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 199

BESTOWING THE TONSURE
159
barber, after offering worship to his razor \ proceeds to
shave the child's head, leaving one lock at the top, which
While the barber is performing his part of
is never cut.
the ceremony, the women sing, musical instruments are
played, and all the Brahmins present remain standing in
As soon as the barber has finished, they
perfect silence.
throw him the money due to him. This he picks up, and
before retiring he also carries off the rice that has been
scattered over the square patch.
The child is immediately put into a bath to purify him
from the defiling touch of the barber. Then his toilette is
begun anew. The women perform the ceremony of aratti,
and the purohita for the second time performs the komam
The entertainment generally ends
to the nine planets.
with a feast and the distribution of presents to the Brah-
mins.
The musicians are then paid, and receive besides
their money a measure of rice each.
The ears of children of both sexes are pierced at about
the same age. This is an occasion for another feast, very
The goldsmith per-
closely resembling the preceding ones.
forms the operation with a very fine gold wire, and the
size of the hole is gradually increased from time to time.
The hole
that they
both
is
generally
made
larger in the ears of girls, so
may wear larger ornaments.
men and women have the holes as
In some provinces
large as a Spanish
piastre.
However odd these customs may appear to us, at any
rate they have the advantage of bringing the Brahmins
often together and obliging them to fulfil their mutual
obligations.
And they certainly help to form a class of
men who in tone and manners are infinitely superior to
other Hindus.
1
This act of worship, which the barber always performs before
shaving any one, consists in putting the razor to his forehead. Dubois.
The same practice is observed by all artisans. Ed.