Upanayana is the tenth of sixteen samskaras which marks the initiation of a child’s spiritual journey through life. The ritual signifies the preparedness of a child through adolescence to attain Vedic knowledge and create their own spiritual identity. As a part of the ritual, the child becomes a ward of a spiritual teacher and receives a three-stranded thread to be always worn over the left shoulder, marking his spiritual birth.

The Upanayana ceremony consists of multiple Vedic rituals which are conducted on an auspicious day chosen based on the child’s nakshatra. These rituals symbolize that the child is prepared to leave the comforts of home and care of their parents to pursue knowledge. The initiation is presided by a learned purohit who starts the ritual by invoking the blessings of gods and ancestors. The child is then fed by their mother, which will be followed by a homa or a kalasha pooja. After the pooja, the child receives the sacred thread from the father who places it across the left shoulder as per the purohit’s instructions. The three strands of the thread signify the Hindu Trinity of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma while serving as a reminder of the child’s debt to the teacher, parents, and God. It is followed by Suryadarshanam and recital of Gayatri Mantra.

The investiture ritual concludes with the child symbolically seeking alms from his parents as a mark of humility and complete submission to the pursuit of knowledge. The ceremony concludes with the child receiving the blessings of elders and performing Sandhyavandanam.

Upanayana is an elaborate ceremony, and the guests are treated with a traditional feast in the end.