How We Source Raw Temple Hair in India | Arrow Exim

Oct 5

3 min read

How We Source Raw Temple Hair – Ethical, Traceable and Made in Chennai

Every Arrow Exim bundle starts as hair donated at a South Indian temple. We buy it at documented temple auctions, sort and process it ourselves in Chennai, and have done so since 2011.

Where temple hair comes from

Devotees in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka donate their hair at temples as an act of humility and gratitude. Most donors have never dyed, permed or heat-styled it. Temples gather and grade the hair, then sell it at public auctions. The proceeds fund temple operations, hospitals, schools and free meals for pilgrims. We buy at these auctions rather than from unverified sources, so every bundle can be traced back to a documented sale.

How we process it in our factory

Keep each donor together. Ponytails stay banded so a bundle is made from one donor, with every cuticle running the same way.
Hand-sort. Hair is sorted by hand by length and texture before washing.
Gentle wash. We use mild cleaning agents and cool water, with no acid baths and no silicone coating.
Shade-dry. Hair dries over several days rather than in a heated tumbler.
Weft in-house. We control weft tension ourselves to keep shedding low.

The result is raw hair: the cuticle is intact and aligned, and the hair has never been chemically processed. It can be coloured, bleached to lighter shades and heat-styled, and it returns to its natural pattern after washing.

What ethical means for us

We pay the auction price and do not buy unverified hair.
Workers earn steady wages, not piece-rate pay that pushes speed over quality.
We refuse orders we cannot fill honestly, rather than substitute processed hair.

Verify our hair

You do not have to take our word for it. Order a sample and run three quick tests: the burn test (real hair burns slowly to ash and smells like burnt protein), the wet test (wash and air dry; raw hair returns to its natural texture) and the cuticle check (stroke down, then up; the two directions should feel different).

Visit our factory in Chennai

Arrow Exim, #356/10 Boopathy Nagar, Industrial Estate, Keelkattalai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600117, India.

Open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM IST, closed Sundays. Message us on WhatsApp (+91 98841 11108) or email sales@arrowexim.com before you come, so we can prepare samples in your lengths and textures. Retail and wholesale buyers are both welcome. If you cannot travel, ask for a live video tour.

FAQ

What is temple hair? Hair donated by devotees at temples in South India as a religious offering, then sold at official temple auctions.

Is your hair really raw? Yes. We do not use acid baths or silicone coatings, and the cuticle stays intact and aligned. A sample lets you confirm it.

What is the difference between raw and virgin hair? Raw hair has had no treatment at all. Virgin hair is also unprocessed but may have been washed or lightly conditioned.

Does the temple benefit from the sale? The temple sells the hair at auction, and the proceeds fund its operations, hospitals, schools and pilgrim meals.

Do you sell wholesale? Yes. Our wholesale minimum is 2.5 kg (25 bundles of 100 g), and single-piece samples are available.