From the archive record
In their veiled faced mother's laps, these tiny kids get their heads shaved by strangers. Balling and screaming, they are held steady by their flailing arms, in order to go through with the traumatic ritual which is considered necessary by some. With all that moving and shaking, can the razors not nick the poor childrens' heads? Note that the mothers are in ghunghat, wearing veils to protect their privacy. An unusual setting for a child to get her head shorn of hair - the erotic sculptures of the Khajuraho temple complex do not really have any connection with this Maha Shivratri ritual in central India. Mundan is a childhood ceremony in many parts of India. Children get their first haircut in the form of a completely shaven pate. There is some mis-placed superstition that the mother's womb