Friday, March 7, 2014

A Hair-y Tale For Friday...!

As you may know, many strange things are done in the name of religion or some mystical belief. Many times these things are done to make money.

I don't have a problem with that, as long as it doesn't cause anyone harm in some way. In fact, some money making for the cause is downright creative! Here is a case in point from India.

Temple Hair



Many places of worship rely on donations and offerings for their income. Yet there are some Indian temples that have cornered an unusual and lucrative market—selling human hair to the West. Many Hindus shave their head, as they consider giving up their hair to be an offering to Vishnu. India’s richest temple, the Venkateshwara Temple in Andhra Pradesh, takes advantage of this on an industrial scale.

In the temple there are two halls filled with barbers. They shave the hair from 12,000 pilgrims every day. That produces 75 tons of hair every year, which makes them $6.5 million. The hair is prized by many in the west, and a lot of it goes to Italian wig manufacturers. Short hair is sent to China, where the amino acid el-cystine is extracted for use as a food preservative.

I'm not sure I really want to know about the part where they extract amino acids from the hair to add as a food preservative, but other than that the whole thing seems harmless enough to me. After all, if folks want to raise money in this fashion, it's no hair off my head! (Sorry...i just couldn't help myself!)

Coffee out on the patio this morning! How about some lemon pudding cake to go with the coffee?

6 comments:

Mamahen said...

Lol...nor mine! Lke you I could have lived without that food preservative ewww ! Patio sonds nice, but i'll just sip a cup of tea with a little honey....The belly is a bit touchy just now....

Chickenmom said...

Read the labels when you buy food!
Please feel better, Mamahen - I'll eat your share of the cake. I'm hungry!

linda m said...

Hey Mr. Hermit, you made a funny hahaha. I knew a lot of people sell their hair to make money but not on that scale. Great article. Have a great weekend.

Rob said...

Chinese food preservatives from "short" Indian hair cut for religious reasons.... that is different!

JO said...

Will surely read labels even more closely now. That made my skin crawl.

I'm ready for a refill please. No cake for me. Mamahen feel better soon. Will this icky stomach thing stop soon.

HermitJim said...

Hey Mamahen...
Yeah, there are somethings in life I really don't want to know!

Sorry the tummy is upset and I hope it settles down soon!

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Phyllis...
I'd say more folks will start reading them more closely after this!

Many thanks for coming over this morning!



Hey Linda M...
Sorry about that, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity!

No matter how you look at it, that's a lot of hair!

Thanks for stopping by today!



Hey Rob...
It is border line strange, isn't it? Definitely different!

Thanks for coming over this morning!



Hey Jo...
Yeah, it does sound a tad creepy in some way.

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping in today!