CONCEPT OF BALA SAMSKARA – SCIENTIFIC VIEW

India is a country with a rich and varied cultural heritage where Hindu Dharma is held in high esteem. Hindu dharma is not a religion but a way of life, which has been refined over millennia to help individuals lead successful lives. The unique relationship between Samskara (sacraments) and culture shapes one‟s lifetime by defining moments or goals that nourish, purify and grant dignity and decorum. The goal of samskara is to improve the culture as a whole. The samskaras are performed for the physical, social and religious development of the individual. Ancient Hindu mythology described sixteen Samskara for a person. This article will described in detail eight samskara for growth and development of children, along with their medical relevance: Jatakarma (birth rituals), Namkaran (naming the child), Nishakraman (first outing), Annaprashan (first feeding), Chudakarna (head shaving), Karnachedan (piercing the earlobes), Upanayana (thread ceremony) and Vedarambha (start of formal education). A Samskara is a rite of passage, and virtually every world culture has such ceremonies. Rites of passage are ceremonies that mark important events in the life of an individual. Samskara also build a wakefulness of the attainment of social status and rights for the individual. Physician can also assess the proper growth and development of the child while performing the Samskaras. The number of Samskara varies in different Hindu Dharma Granthas (text books), it is about 16-40, but the applicable Samskara are 16 in number which spreads from Garbhadana to AnteysthiSamskara. Among these 16, only 11 will fall under the period up to childhood. Ayurveda also describes different Samskaras in the different period of life to mark, or to announce attainment of different milestones thus ensuring proper growth and also to differentiate them from the child with developmental delay.