Traditional Indian dancers dress up as boys.

Four traditional ceremonies

It is an eternal truth to travel around the world and do as the Romans do. 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 it, her daughter cannot get married. 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 "Puja Ceremony", sing prayers and then have dinner with relatives and friends.

After Indian children are born, their 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 wedding is the representative of social status and the most important ceremony in life. 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 that worships only God. Puja ritual must be performed by a priest. During the ceremony, believers will decorate the statue and carry it out of the temple to celebrate, and offer offerings such as flowers, coconuts and tika powder. Finally, the priest held an oil lamp and performed "arati" 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 own eyes, which means accepting the power given only by God.

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.

Male headscarf

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 the skills of tying, tying, tying, wrapping and wearing ... and so on, which makes Sally have different changes.

The sari of women in Rajasthan is very short and only covers their heads, 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.

Muslim clothing

Muslims in India, regardless of gender, wear wide robes with simple colors. Muslim men wear small round hats on their heads, and women wrap their hair in headscarves. In more conservative Islamic areas, women still cover their faces with tulle. Jain women are all white, and some people wear white masks to avoid killing creatures in the air. On the other hand, Jain male monks don't wear any clothes.

Music and dance

In India, religion is the main norm of daily life, and music and dance are the most common art forms, which come into being with various religious festivals and folk customs.

Indian music tradition comes from the ancient Sama Vedas, which are Hindustan system and Karnataka system respectively. The former is popular in northern India, and its style is influenced by Central Asia and Persia. The latter spread in South India, and its style remained unchanged.

Indian traditional music

There are various forms of classical music in North India, among which Khyal is the most frequently played. Because it combines rigorous and romantic music forms, it is easily accepted by people. Karnataka music in South India is more complex and regular. Unlike the popular improvisation in North India, it only changes its original structure with special skills or musical instruments.

Veena is the representative stringed instrument of South Indian music, and Sitar is the most famous stringed instrument of North Indian music. There are many kinds of percussion instruments, among which two kinds of single-sided drums are used in North India and one kind of double-sided drums is used in South India. In the aspect of song accompaniment, the most special is a box instrument, which has a special sound quality when playing with the left hand pushing the right hand and pressing the keyboard.

Indian classical dance

Indian classical dances mainly include Kasak, balata Natiyan, Nipuli and Ka Taccari, as well as Odisi and Kuchipudi.

Katak dance, popular in Jaipur and Lucknow in northern India, is the court dance of the Mongolian Empire. The dancer has a string of bells tied to her ankles. During the performance, they danced their toes in a fast rotating way. The main features are their skillful footwork and posture balance control.

Balata dance is popular in Tamil Nadu and has the longest history. This dance is performed by women, and its main feature is to use the balance and stability of the waist and knees to make the hands dance freely around the body.

Ma Nipuli dance is popular in Manipur, northeastern India, and its main feature is its gentle and persistent movements. This dance is to show reverence for Vishnu. Vishnu is the most common theme in Indian classical dance dramas. Katakali dance is a dance in Kerala, southern India. The dancers are all men, with thick oil paints on their faces, loose skirts and headdresses. When dancing, I emphasize the circulation of my eyes and my expression is very rich. Indian music and dance, in addition to the classical genre, are also popular in Indian mountain hunting dance, harvest festival dance, folk dance and street performers' improvisation, all of which are worth seeing.