The Jain teacher Parshvanatha plucks out his hair, from a manuscript of the Kalpasutra (Book of Ritual)

This illustrated page depicts an event in the life of the twenty-third Jain teacher, Parshvanatha. When he decided to renounce his former life and become an ascetic, Parshvanatha—like the other Jain teachers before him—plucked out his own hair. He is depicted at the left side of the painting grasping a clump of hair with his right hand. Parshvanatha is said to have plucked out all his hair in five handfuls, which were then caught by the god Indra, depicted next to Parshvanatha in this painting. The plucking or shaving of hair as an act of renunciation and religious devotion, a longstanding tradition in India, is practiced to this day by Buddhists, Hindus, and Jains.