Quick question for folks:
at various times I've seen lists of longest hair in the world (or even
specific countries) which only include women, or pictures of women who won
various long-hair contests, or just special-interest newspaper articles on
women with long hair (for which the qualification seems to be "measurable
length longer than your height") - but men are almost never mentioned (for
the obvious reason that they rarely grow it that long - or is there a
scientific reason? does male hair not grow as quickly or have as long life
as female hair?)
The exception I've found is from Guiness:
1966-1974, they reported that "The longest recorded hair was that of Swami
Pandarasannadhi, the head of the Thiruvadu Thurai monastery, India. His
matted hair was reported in 1949 to be 26 feet in length."
From 1975-1987, they added the detail, "From photographs it appears that he
was afflicted with the disease Plica caudiformis, in which the hair becomes
matted and crusted as a result of neglect." After 1987, they stopped
mentioning this.
In 1990 and 1991, they mentioned, "no photographic or scientific evidence has
ever been supplied in order to support this extreme measurement." Because of
this, after 1991, they stopped mentioning him at all.
Every other mention in Guiness is of women, most notably Diane Witt, Mata
Jagdamba, and an unnamed 18th century Polish woman who willed her 12 foot
braid to a museum.
Now, I've seen hair longer than my own several times - pre-cut Mart, for
example, but I'm curious what the longest verified hair is for men... ?
-Coyote Pup
Is it time to have an official contest now? Any readers here have expertise in contests?