Modes of Wearing the Janeo

The Janeo is usually worn on the left shoulder, across the back and chest and it runs under the right shoulder but during worship time it is held differently. While praying or worshipping, the Janeo is worn on the left shoulder and is held across the palm under the left hand`s thumb. The right hand is kept over it in the forward direction.

While worshipping the ancestors or Pitris, the Janeo is worn on the right shoulder, and the water is sprinkled on the deity with the finders of the right hand, the palm is kept above them and the water is poured to the left. While worshipping the Rishis, the Janeo is rounded along the neck and allowed to fall by the side like a necklace. The thread ceremony along with the Janeo, as mentioned in the Vedic textbooks and scriptures, is no longer practiced in the modern society of the Hindus. Kashatriyas and Vaishyas usually do not wear the Janeo in any region of India. Even the Brahmins do not wear it nowadays. In Southern India and in Bengal, this practise is still performed by the Brahmins religiously and they are recognized by the presence of Janeo on their body.

Howsoever modernized may be the society, this ceremony is still considered as the second most pious ceremony amongst the Hindus, after the sacrament of marriage.