Keshanta (literally, cutting the hair) is the thirteenth of the sixteen saṃskāra

Samskara

Samskara may refer to:* Saṃskāra, Hindu rites* Saṃskāra , in Buddhism, mental and volitional formations* Samskara , a technique in ayurvedic medicine...

s (sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

s) practiced by the Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s. This saṃskāra is connected with the first shaving of a student's beard when his age is about 16 years. The procedure of this saṃskāra is almost the same as that of the Chudakarana

Chudakarana

The Chudakarana or the Mundana , is the eighth of the sixteen Hindu saṃskāras , in which a child receives his/her first haircut....

. This saṃskāra was also known as the Godana (gifting a cow) or the Godanakarman (rite of gifting a cow), as the student offered a cow to the teacher at the end of the ceremony. According to the Manusmriti (II.65), this saṃskāra should be performed for a Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 in the sixteenth year (from conception), for a Kshatriya

Kshatriya

*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

 in the twenty-second year and for a Vaisya in the twenty-fourth year.