{"id":658252,"date":"2019-07-17T10:31:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T10:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"
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\"odd<\/div> \n\n "},"modified":"2019-07-17T10:31:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T10:31:08","slug":"photos-indian-man-calls-his-40-year-old-unwashed-dreadlocks-a-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/17\/photos-indian-man-calls-his-40-year-old-unwashed-dreadlocks-a-blessing\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Indian man calls his 40-year-old unwashed dreadlocks a blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A man in India who hasn\u2019t cut or washed his hair in 40 years now sports six-foot-long dreadlocks \u2013 and calls them a \u2018blessing from God.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sakal Dev Tuddu, 63, from the Munger district of eastern Bihar state, wears his mat of hair on top of his head like a turban.<\/p>\n

He says that one night, some 40 years ago, his hair spontaneously wove itself into a \u2018jatta\u2019 or dreadlock, which he took as a divine blessing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sakal<\/figure>\n

Sakal Dev Tuddu, 63, from India\u2019s Bihar state, wears his six-foot-long mat of hair on top of his head like a turban wrapped in a white cloth<\/p>\n

\"Sakal
He also says God visited him in a dream and told him not to cut his hair \u2013 an instruction he has obeyed ever since. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sakal Dev says his hair spntaneously knotted itself into a dreadlock one night as he slept, and that God visited him in a dream and told him never to cut or wash it<\/p>\n

He also says God visited him in a dream and told him not to cut his hair \u2013 an instruction he has obeyed ever since.<\/p>\n

He also gave up drinking and smoking out of devotion to his deity.\u00a0Sadhus, Hindu holy men, also go without grooming their hair and sport long jattas.<\/p>\n

But unlike the sadhus, Sakal Dev\u2019s hair is matted into one huge knotted lock, which he ties up in a white cloth when he goes out to keep it clean.<\/p>\n

If he didn\u2019t stack his hair up on top of his head it would trail on the ground behind him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, his neighbours have dubbed him \u2018Mahatma Ji\u2019 as a mark of respect for his holy appearance and humble demeanour.<\/p>\n

He is renowned as a traditional healer, and prepares home-made treatments for childless couples.<\/p>\n

\"Sakal<\/figure>\n
\"Sakal<\/figure>\n

Sakal Dev Tuddu, from India\u2019s Bihar state, has a single six-foot-long dreadlock after not cutting or washing his hair for 40 years<\/p>\n

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Bihar state resident Sakal Dev Tuddu lies in bed to show off the length of his single huge dreadlock, which stretches down below his feet <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sakal<\/figure>\n

Sakal Dev has worked for the forest department for 31 years and lives with his wife Rupiya Devi, three sons, three daughters and seven grandchildren<\/p>\n

People come from far and wide to meet Sakal Dev and take his photograph, but he greets them all with good humour.<\/p>\n

Sakal Dev has worked for the forest department for 31 years and lives with his wife\u00a0Rupiya Devi, three sons, three daughters and seven grandchildren.<\/p>\n

He says his wife has no problem with his unruly mane.<\/p>\n

The record for the world\u2019s longest dreadlocks is held by Kenyan-resident Florida woman\u00a0Asha Mandela, whose hair measured an incredible 110 feet (34m) in 2018 when she was 55.<\/p>\n

Ninth-century Viking king Harald I swore an oath not to cut or comb his hair until he had conquered all of Norway, earning himself the epithet \u2018Shaggy Harald.\u2019<\/p>\n

Harald, the son of Halfdan the Black and father of Erik Bloodaxe, eventually won the whole kingdom and became known as \u2018Harald Finehair.\u2019<\/p>\n

Source: dailymail.co.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n