Rite no. 9 / 16
कर्णवेध
The ear-piercing
A small rite of passage in childhood, understood both as care for the child's wellbeing and as a first, gentle adornment.
In early childhood; a later addition to the classical rite series.
Later Smṛti/Gṛhya tradition (post-classical). See the classical series in the Gṛhya-Sūtras, SBE Vols. 29–30 (1886), public domain.