Upanayana
![Upanayana sanskara ceremony in progress. Typically, this ritual was for 8 year olds in ancient India, but in the 1st millennium AD it became open to all ages.[1]](/Images/godic/202502/19/A_yagyopaveet_sanskar_upanayana_samskara_in_Nepal2806.jpg")
![A boy during his upanayana ritual. The thin, yellow Yajnopavita thread runs from left shoulder to waist. Note the munja grass girdle around the waist. The peepal tree twig in his right hand marks his entry into the Brahmacharya stage of life.](/Images/godic/202502/19/Upanayanam2806.jpg")
![At Upanayana ceremony of Nepalis](/Images/godic/202502/19/Upanayana_krish2806.jpg")
Upanayana is one of the traditional saṃskāras (rites of passage) that marked the acceptance of a student by a guru (teacher) and an individual's entrance to a school in Hinduism. The tradition is widely discussed in ancient Sanskrit texts of India and varies regionally.