Samskara (Hindu Rite of Passage)
Hinduism — primarily observed among Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya communities (the three "twice-born" or dvija varnas), though customs vary by region and lineage. Surya (Sun God, invoked for wisdom and vitality), Gayatri Devi (personification of the Gayatri Mantra), Agni (fire, as witness), and the family's Kuladevata (ancestral deity)
Upanayanam (also known as Yajnopavita Sanskara, Janeu/Janoi ceremony)
Upanayanam is a Vedic samskara marking a boy's initiation into formal spiritual and scholarly life, symbolized by the investiture of the sacred thread (yajnopavita) and the imparting of the Gayatri Mantra by his father or guru.
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