10 Interesting And Shocking Traditions From Around The World
Via the telegraph.co.uk
While we may already be accustomed to the some cultures and traditions. Here are some interesting and shocking ones from around the world.
1. Baby Throwing
In Maharashtra state of India, it is common practice to drop babies from roughly 50 feet onto a bed-sheet that is being held stretched. One of the beliefs is that it would to bring good health and good luck to the family of the child.
In Spain, Tomatina is the biggest tomato fight in the world! It usually takes place in Valencia. At the peak of the tomato season a wild battle develops as thousands of people bombard each other with ripe tomatoes. Rivers of tomato sauce run down the streets. After the tomato war is over, everyone gathers at the town square for food and wine festivities.
In Thailand, for adults to point a foot at someone is extremely insulting. The case for this is that since the foot is the lowest part of the body it is held in the lowest esteem. So you need to be careful when sitting down with your feet out. Likewise, as the head is the highest part of the body, it is never touched directly by others for this is considered an insult.
4. Remove your shoes
Kanamara Matsuri is simply put a penis festival. Each spring, people swamp to Kawasaki in Japan, usually on the first Sunday in April for the festival.This Japanese tradition celebrates the penis and fertility by holding phallic-themed parades. A gigantic penis is hoisted into the air and marched across town. Nowadays, the festival apparently brings safe sex practices to light and fundraises for HIV prevention.
The Yanomamo tribe of Venezuela and Brazil eat the cremated ashes of family members. They forbid preserving or keeping any parts of their deceased so instead, the body is cremated and the ashes, which includes crushed bones, are given to the family to be eaten.
In Hinduism, the consumption of beef is taboo out of respect and honour for the cow. A significant number of Hindus, are vegetarian, abstaining from eating meat. However, those Hindus who do eat meat abstain from the consumption of beef in particular, so are able to eat Lamb, Goat etc. This is because the cow holds a sacred place in Hinduism.
In Ancient Egypt, cats were held in very high esteem by the ancient Egyptians, they cats came to be observed as protectors of evil by the ancient Egyptians, and were domesticated by them. It is believed that the animals reached an important place as the protectors of the country’s grain, as they killed rodents and snakes. The ancient Egyptian law forbade the killing of cats, except of course for sacrificial purposes. The punishment for killing or harming (even accidentally) even a stray cat in Egypt was death. More at Buzzle.
Think again. In Japan is considered very inappropriate and constitutes bad etiquette since, in Japan, funeral notices are customarily printed in red.
While Thumbs up signifies well done in many cultures. In Greece, It can be tricky to give the thumbs. Especially if it is thrust up, it could essentially be easily confused with “Up yours!”.
I had no idea that people in Japan printed their funeral notices in red. I think that this is a very important cultural thing to take note of so that someone doesn’t offend them. If they don’t use red in their Christmas celebrations, then what other colors to they use on that day?