An Indian man who hasn’t trim or washed his hair for 40 years now, has six feet long dreadlocks and considers them to be a ‘gift from God.’
63-year-old Sakal Dev Tuddu, who lives in the Munger district of eastern Bihar state, uses his dreadlocks as a turban on his head.
Sakal says that 40 years ago, his hair just started weaving by itself into a ‘jatta’ or dreadlock, which he took that as a blessing from God.
He also claims that it was God who commanded him to not cut his hair, he given that instruction in his dreams and he hasn’t disobeyed it ever since.
He also gave up smoking and drinking out of respect and devotion to his deity. Hindu holy men [Sadhus] also do the same thing as Sakal does, they don’t groom their hair and they sport long jattas.
But Sakal Dev’s hair, unlike the sadhus, is joined together into one huge knotted lock, and he ties that lock up in a white cloth when he goes out, just to keep it clean.
If he doesn’t put his hair like a turban above his head, it will be dragged down behind him in the ground while he’s walking.
Moreover, his neighbors gave him the nickname ‘Mahatma Ji’ out of respect for his holy appearance
In fact, his neighbors have dubbed him ‘Mahatma Ji’ as a mark of respect for his holy and humble appearance.
He is a famous traditional healer, and he makes home-made treatments for couples who weren’t successful at producing children.
People come from far to meet up with Sakal, they take photographs of him, but that doesn’t stop him to greet them all with good humor.
Sakal lives with the company of his wife Rupiya Devi, 3 sons, three daughters, and seven grandchildren. And he has worked for 31 years for the forest department.
He says that his wife doesn’t mind his unruly and wild look.
The Guinness world record for the longest dreadlocks is held by Asha Mandela a Kenyan who lives in Florida, her hair is measured to be 110 feet (34m) back in 2018 when she was 55-years old.
Harald, a Viking King from the 9th century has sworn an oath to himself, he will not cut nor comb his hair as long as he hasn’t conquered all of Norway, earning himself ‘Shaggy Harald’ as a nickname.
Harald, son of Halfdan the Black, and father of Erik Bloodaxe, finally was able to conquer all of Norway and he became known as ‘Harald Finehair.’
