THIRUTHANI-For Hindu followers it is an act of devotion, but at the Thiruthani Murugan temple and others across India there are millions to be made from heads that are shaved and smothered with tumeric paste.
Some days there are hundreds of disciples waiting before dawn at the hilltop shrine west of Chennai to take part in the centuries-old traditional offering to the gods. As they ask the deities for good fortune and health, temple attendants collect the locks for sale to be used for wigs or fashion industry hair extensions.
India has long been the world’s biggest exporter of human hair - in money terms - and businesses say the country earns several hundred million dollars a year from its high quality locks. China and Russia are serious rivals in terms of volume. European countries are the biggest customers, but a lot is also sold in the rest of Asia, the United States and even Africa. There are about 10 major temples, and other smaller ones, in India with a cut of the market. Some villages also collect their inhabitants’ hair. The most expensive type - capturing a quarter of the overall market - is hair shaved directly from the scalp of one donor.
The rest - cheaper cuts sourced from comb waste - fetches a lower price.