Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c27.259

v2.c27.259

⁸ This is done even now in Ceylon, where young boys' hair is tied round their heads in several knots. But in one place (DA. i. 296) Buddhaghosa says that one way of insulting a man was to shave his head, leaving him five locks of hair (garahāya ti pañcasikhā muṇḍakaraṇam). And, again (SA. i. 171), he mentions that Sanaṅkumāra retained his eternal youth because in a previous life he had developed jhāna while yet a lad (pañcasikhakumārakāle). See also J. vi. 496, where a traitor had his hair tied in five knots as a sign of disgrace.