There is essentially no 'Initiation' ceremony in Hinduism. The nearest one is the coming of age ceremony. In Hinduism young male members of the Brahmin and Kshatriya caste may perform a coming of age ceremony, however as the caste system has been disregarded and was not part of Hinduism, through birth as such, various members of other "castes" also perform this ceremony. The Upanayana commonly known as Janoy, or the Thread Ceremony. The Janoy, a three cotton threads/strings (approximately two arm lengths) rolled together represented the 'milky way', the wearer taking the role of 'Prajapati', the creative principle. It symbolises a New birth/ new eyes (Upa = Higher/new; Nayan = Eyes/birth) as a student. It does not resemble baptism: the New Birth signifies the change in knowledge level and