Rabindranath Tagore’s Upanayan (Brahminical sacred thread ceremony and initiation into Gayatri prayers). Upanayana (Sanskrit: उपनयन upanayana-) Janai or janeau (Sanskrit: जनै, जनेऊ is one of the traditional saṃskāras (rites of passage) that marked the acceptance of a student by a guru (teacher or tutor) and an individual’s entrance to a school in Hinduism.