[1] Thus at the time of the shave, the child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving into the future.
[2] It is also said that the shaving of the hair stimulates proper growth of the brain and nerves, and that the sikha, a tuft at the crown of the head, protects the memory.
Collectively these are known as saṃskāras, meaning rites of purification, and are believed to make the body pure and fit for worship.
At the twentieth day from birth, Maliku babies' heads are shaven and the hair is weighed against gold or silver, which is given to the poor.
The hair-cutting ceremony is known in Yiddish as the upsherenish or upsherin ("shear off"), and in Hebrew as halaqah (from the Arabic حلاقة - "to shave").
A mass hair cutting ceremony is held on the holiday of Lag BaOmer at the tomb of Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai in the Galilean town of Meron.
[5] This does not have to be done by actually weighing the hair; if it is too difficult to do that, it is sufficient to estimate the weight and give paper currency equivalent to the price of that amount of gold or silver.
The ritual first haircut (Polish: postrzyżyny) was a pre-Christian pagan-Slavic tradition which survived in Poland well into the 18th century.
The ritual haircut, coupled with the granting of an additional given name (usually the third), marked the boy's coming of age and a transition to the world of men, in which he was to be looked after by his father.
After Cukur Jambul has started with a reading from the Quran, the father or mother takes the child to everyone who will cut some of the baby's hair, these people usually include grandparents, members of the marhaban group, local elders, and religious leaders.
It is later put into some sort of bowl and buried in front of close family members in order to finish the ceremony.