Baby Mundan: 7 Tips and Precautions For A Safe Ceremony
A baby’s birth floods happiness, and its laughter brims the household with joy. Celebrations with the baby begin, and some customs gait into a new beginning with a new life.
Mundan is a perpetual ritual of Hindu Tradition that entails shaving the first hair of the baby. Also known as Tonsure, the mundan is done supposedly in the first year or on the third year. It is believed that Tonsure should be performed in an odd year and should not go beyond the third year.
Auspicious days for mundan are considered based on nakshatras and sometimes the zodiac signs under which the infant is born. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are most probably the days when Mundan can be performed.
Why Mundan?
Mundan has been performed for eons for several reasons. Some reasons are religious, while others are scientific. The religious beliefs say that mundan is essential as a soul or atman finally enters the tangible human body after undergoing 84 lakh species or yonis. To purify and free the present birth from the Karma of previous ones, it is essential to carry out mundan.
Scientific causes say that a baby has an uneven shape of its soft skull, and shaving the hair facilitates even fuller hair growth. Tonsuring also benefits the reception of vital Vitamin D for the baby. Doctors have recommended mundan because it helps in imbuing the development of brain cells and nerves.
Reasons and justifications run from anywhere to everywhere. Nevertheless, if mundan is chosen to be done, here is a list of tips and precautions for tonsuring a happy baby while the mundan ceremony wishes to flood the gates.
Pre-Mundan Care
Rest
The baby should be content with proper feeding and sleep. Babies tend to grow irritated and annoyed when hungry. A vexed baby does not heed to the sharpness of the blade. A baby’s skin is unprotected and soft, so even a slight cut might lead to infections.
Comfort Dressing
Also, mundan ceremony is rapturous yet immensely compelling for a baby as it involves gathering a crowd of new faces. Babies become socially tense around unrecognizable people. So, it would be advisable to dress your little angel in comfortable clothes to avoid getting the baby overwhelmed and anxious.
The Ceremony
A priest generally performs the ceremony, and a barber shaves the baby’s head. A baby’s skin is vulnerable to septic and wounds. Therefore, the blade used for mundan should be disinfected and sterilized as microbes can spread through a contaminated instrument. Also, it will be equally advisable to board a barber who is prolific enough at the task.
Cleansing after Mundan
Bathing
The baby has to be appropriately bathed and cleansed after the mundan to prevent infection chances. Bath the infant in lukewarm water to ease off any discomfort.
Antiseptics
It would be much better to rub sandalwood or Chandan and turmeric on the baby’s head and heal the cuts and wounds. The anti-inflammatory traits also comfort the infant’s skin. In India, after the tonsuring, the holy water, or the Ganga water, is sprinkled on the baby often to signify the purity and felicitous completion of the tradition.
Tips for Next Few Days
Gentle Care
It is advised that any harsh or heavy cleanser not be used on the baby’s bald head because for some time, at least until the slight outgrowth of new hair, the skin is susceptible to irritants and rashes.
Cleanser
Like coconut oil, soft cleansers or natural substances are used while bathing the infant as they do not pose threats to the delicate skin.
Mundan is a joyous event as, in a way, it also marks the starting journey of a newborn. Mundan invitations go to many relatives and friends in the form of flashy cards. The cards seem creative and attractive enough when adorned with mundan ceremony invitation quotes and wishes.
To perform mundan or not altogether rests upon individual perspectives as slowly many traditions have been discarded either because of delving deeper and seeing no such utility or wearing off of fashion. Moreover, if a practice has been related to auspiciousness for ages, there has to be some reason behind it.