Kudumi

Kudumi is one of the ancient hair styles in India. It's a symbol of Hindus in ancient days. Its origin is still unknown but it's still popular among Iyers and Iyengars. Kuduma is another variation of the term.

This style comes in two forms: The most common Kudumi (called Pin Kudumi) is worn with the hair is grown to the back and knotted while the front portion of the hair is shaved off.

Mun-Kudumi is a style where the hair is grown long in the front and knotted to the forehead. This hairstyle was popular amongst certain South Indian Brahmin sects (Dikshitar, Namboothiris), and the ruling class of Kerala.

A Dīkshitar from Chidambaram sporting the Mun Kudumi

File:Mvsivan.jpg

A portait of vocalist M. V. Sivan sporting the Pin Kudumi

Tying a Kudumi

The technique used to tie the hair into a Kudumi is as follows: The lengthy hair can be tied with the help of left thumb and index fingers. You roll up the lock of hair over the left thumb and index fingers put together by your right hand till you reach the tail end. Then hold the tail end of hair by the left thumb and index fingers and pull out the fingers with the tail end of the hair. You get the knot. After some little practice you will get a tight and neat knot.