Kesā
Hairs of the head
Kesā — the hairs of the head, the first item in the canonical list and the first part to be contemplated. Visuddhimagga VIII.83 dwells on the colour, shape, direction, location, and delimitation of the hair as it grows on the inner skin of the scalp: 'they grow in the inner skin that envelops the skull'. The reflection is precise to the point of repulsion — the contemplative is to see the hair as it actually is, rooted in skin, soaked in scalp-grease, and not as the ornamental object of common sentiment. This point anchors the 'skin pentad' (kesā, lomā, nakhā, dantā, taco) — the first group taught in the canonical sevenfold grouping. It is rendered at the crown vertex.
Point 1 of 8 in Theravāda 32 Parts of the Body (Dvattiṃsākāra)
Cross-tradition overlaps
No overlapping points are registered for this point.
Sources
Majjhima Nikāya 10.10 (primary_canonical)
“In this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, midriff, spleen, lungs...”
Visuddhimagga VIII.83 (primary_canonical)
“As to colour, head hairs are mostly black; as to shape, they are round and long; as to location, they grow in the inner skin that envelops the skull.”