Indian customs and habits

Indians have four traditional rituals, namely, birth, funeral, marriage and worship. In addition, when traveling in India, you must know 10 India's special habits and six taboos to ensure that you have a good time and have a safe trip.

be born

Traditionally, India prefers boys to girls, because parents must prepare a generous dowry when their daughters get married. Without a dowry, her daughter can't marry an Indian or bathe in the "holy water" of the Ganges. This is indeed a huge burden for poor families.

When an Indian gives birth to a daughter, he will clap his hands to show that he has nothing. But if it's a son, it's very different. The family immediately beat gongs to celebrate, saying that in the future, the son can take a large dowry when he marries.

The way for Indians to celebrate the birth and safe growth of their children is to go to the temple for "Pujia ceremony", sing prayers, and then hold a dinner with relatives and friends.

After Indian children are born, parents will find someone to read their divinations. Children's names are mostly taken from heroes or gods. Children's birthdays are especially valued because they can decide who they will marry in the future.

funeral

After the death of Hindus, the cremation ceremony was held at the altar by the river. After the death of Hindus, their families will wrap the bodies in yellow or white silk, then put them on two bamboo stretchers and carry them to the crematorium on the river beach in the form of a parade.

Traditionally, the task of carrying the deceased to the crematorium should be undertaken by family members, but now most people have given it to specialized personnel. In India, people who specialize in funeral affairs are regarded as untouchables with the lowest caste status.

Generally speaking, the funeral ceremony is very simple, but wealthy families may invite musicians to play in front and March in a vast procession. Before cremation, the eldest son of the deceased must walk around the body three times with an oil lamp. When the cremation pyre is lit, the eldest son of the deceased must shave his hair, leaving only one in the back of his head, and then bathe himself in the river. After cremation, the ashes of the deceased will be swept into the river, which means that the soul has left the body and gained freedom.

wedding

Indian women are dressed in traditional costumes, and Indian wedding is the representative of social status and the most important ceremony in their lives. When Indian youth reach marriageable age, their parents will look for people with the same social class, language, region and background, and stars can cooperate.

Weddings in India are quite complicated. Before marriage, both parents will discuss the dowry through the priest who acts as a matchmaker. Only after the woman has promised the amount of dowry provided by both men and women can the two sides choose the auspicious day of the zodiac and start preparing for the wedding. The day before the wedding, the bride must follow the traditional make-up method, and start oiling, bathing, changing clothes, combing her hair, applying eyeliner and lip sand, and painting red on her feet, red on her forehead and black moles on her chin. Then, she will paint Hannah's pattern on her hands and feet with plant dyes, then spray perfume, wear jewelry and hair accessories, and finally dye her teeth black, chew betel nut and apply lipstick, which is considered a success.

On the wedding day, the groom came to the bride's house on a white horse. At this time, the woman's family has set up a fire altar, and relatives and friends of both sides pray around the fire altar in the auspicious mantra recited by the priest. After that, the bride walked to the altar surrounded by her companion, and the priest tied the bride's sari and the groom's scarf together, representing a long-term marriage.

An Indian wedding dinner was held at the bride's house. A couple sat at the wedding reception and received blessings from relatives and friends. On the night of the wedding, the groom spent the night at the bride's house and married the bride home the next day.

Liturgy (worship)

Puja is a Hindu ritual of offering sacrifices to gods, and Puja ritual must be performed by priests. During the ceremony, believers will decorate the statue and carry it out of the temple to celebrate, and offer flowers, coconuts, tika powder and other offerings. Finally, the priest held an oil lamp and performed "Alati" in front of the idol.

In the process of "Alati", believers gently cover the lamp in the priest's hand with their hands, and then touch it on their eyes, which represents the power given by the gods.

Usually, after the worship ceremony, believers can get some sacrificial flowers, tika powder or water, which is called Prasad. So in India, as long as you see Indians worship from temples, almost all of them are painted with red or white powder on their foreheads.

Traditional dress

In India, people's religious belief, race, class and region can be seen from different costumes.

Indian traditional dance-the male headscarf of balata dance;

Most Indian men wear headscarves, which are called Muslim headscarves. There are many ways to wrap headscarves, among which Sikh male headscarves have specific styles.

Traditionally, Sikhs have grown up with hair, beards and headscarves. The style of children's headscarves is relatively simple, and only black cloth is tied into a bun shape. The headscarf style of adults is more complicated. First of all, long hair must be tied into a bun with black elastic band, and then wrapped into a headscarf with a piece of cloth about 3 meters long. The style is regular rows on both sides. Sikh headscarves are colorful, and some people even match the colors of their clothes.

Most Indian men wear loose tunics and Dhoti. Men in Rajasthan are all wrapped in a piece of white cloth, and the cloth towels on their heads are diverse in patterns and bright in colors.

Women wear saris:

The traditional dress of Indian women is sari, which refers to a piece of cloth with a length of more than 15 yards, which is put on and wrapped around the body. Indian women are good at using skills such as tying, encircling, tying, wrapping, wrapping and wearing. This has made a different change in Sally.

The traditional dress of Indian women-Sari Rajasthan women's sari is very short, only covering her head, but it is brightly colored and embroidered with gold and silver. The tops of women in Rajasthan are a bit like the collarless dresses of China Impatiens, and the lower part is a long skirt with piping and floor.

The way Sally dresses:

The traditional dress of Indian women is wrapped in a 3-meter-long cloth called sari. Indian saris are dressed in a variety of ways. Different races, different regions and different beliefs have many different colors, different textures and different ways of dressing. When Indian women wear saris, they wear short-sleeved tights (Choli) above their navel and a straight petticoat (Ghagra) below, touching the ground.

The most basic method of wearing sari can be divided into the following steps:

1. First pull out the left end of the sari cloth and stuff it into the petticoat head on the right.

2. Wrap the sari cloth around the lower circumference from right to left for about three or four times.

3. Then, use sari cloth to fold it into four folds at the right front and stuff it into the skirt.

4. Then wrap the rest of the cloth around the right armpit from the left rear and put it on the left shoulder.

5. Finally, put the sari cloth directly on your shoulders or head.

eating habits

The daily diet of Indians is very different in the north and the south. Northerners live on wheat, corn and beans, and especially like to eat a kind of pancake called "Chabati". People in the southern and eastern coastal areas live on rice and like fried rice. The Deccan Plateau in central China is dominated by millet and miscellaneous grains. Indians like to eat spicy food with curry. In terms of drinking water and beverages, Indians, like westerners, have no habit of drinking hot water, and generally like to drink cold water or black tea, milk and coffee.