Upanayana

Upanayana (IAST: Upanayanam, Sanskrit: उपनयन) is one of the traditional saṃskāras (rites of passage) that marked the acceptance of a student by a guru (teacher) and an individual's entrance to a school in Hinduism. The tradition is widely discussed in ancient Sanskrit texts of India and varies regionally. The sacred thread (yajnopavita) is received by the boy during this ceremony, that he continues wearing across his chest thereafter.

The upanayana was restricted in many medieval Indian texts to the upper three of the four varnas (castes) of society — brahmins, kshatriyas and vaishyas. However, Vedic period texts such as the Baudhāyana Grihyasutra encouraged all members of society to undergo the upanayana, even shudras. Women were encouraged to undergo upanayana in ancient India before they started Vedic studies or before their wedding.

Upanayana (Sanskrit: उपनयन) literally means "the act of leading to or near". It is an important and widely discussed samskara in ancient Sanskrit text. The rite of passage symbolizes the leading or drawing towards the self of a child, in a school, by a teacher. It is a ceremony in which a guru (teacher) accepts and draws a child towards knowledge and initiates the second birth that is of the young mind and spirit.

Upanayana is the rite of passage for the start of formal education of writing, numbers, reading, Vedangas, arts and other skills. The Upanayana rite of passage was also important to the teacher, as the student would therefrom begin to live in the gurukul (school).

Upanayana was an elaborate ceremony, that included rituals involving the family, the child and the teacher. A boy receives during this ceremony a sacred thread called Yajñopaveetam that he wears. The Yajñopavita ceremony announced that the child had entered into formal education. In the modern era, the Upanayana rite of passage is open to anyone at any age.

The education of a student was not limited to ritual and philosophical speculations found in the Vedas and the Upanishads. They extended to many arts and crafts, which had their own, similar rites of passages.Aitareya Brahmana, Agamas and Puranas literature of Hinduism describe these as Shilpa Sastras. They extend to all practical aspects of culture, such as the sculptor, the potter, the perfumer, the wheelwright, the painter, the weaver, the architect, the dancer, and the musician. Ancient Indian texts assert that the number of the arts is unlimited, but each deploy elements of 64 ‘‘kala’’ (कला, techniques) and 32 ‘‘vidyas’’ (विद्या, fields of knowledge). The training of these began from childhood and included studies about dharma, culture, reading, writing, mathematics, geometry, colors, tools, as well as traditions (trade secrets). The rites of passage during apprentice education varied in the respective guilds.

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