Lets Talk Culture

[Kashmiri Pandit]

As the title says , Lets talk about and share stuff about our culture :

01 In my culture , in some families , Kids are taught to touch the feet of elders to get blessings .
02 In my culture , ( Particularly in my language ) To say its bad or to say its smelly , we say **** ^_^
03 We say Namaskar instead of Hello as greetings . Namaskar means I bow to God within you .
04 In my culture we believe in " Atithi Devo Bhava " which means ," The guest is equivalent to God "
05 In my culture in winters we use earthen pots to keep ourselves warm .
06 Mostly we don't wear footwear inside and never inside the Temple rooms within the house .
07 We keep fasts or perform fasting on lot of days .
08 We cremate dead , worship trees and never sleep with head pointing North >_< These days people sleep which ever direction they want .
09 Hindu Women put Mehandi or Henna on festive occasions .

10 Hindu women wear bangles of various kind .

Lets see how many cultural practices are similar ^^

@nair @proud_indian @Roybot @jbgt90 @Sergi @Water Car Engineer @dadeechi @kurup @Rain Man @kaykay @Abingdonboy @SR-91 @nang2 @fsayed @anant_s @Joe Shearer @Tshering22 @Dandpatta @danger007 @Didact @Soumitra @SrNair
@TejasMk3
@jbgt90 @ranjeet @4GTejasBVR @The_Showstopper @guest11 @PARIKRAMA @egodoc222 @DesiGuy1403 @Nilgiri @SarthakGanguly @Omega007 @GURU DUTT @HariPrasad @JanjaWeed @litefire @AMCA @Perpendicular @MilSpec @Spectre @Windjammer @Horus @GURU DUTT @litefire @AMCA @Perpendicular @abcxyz0000
@MilSpec @Spectre
@Ryuzaki @CorporateAffairs @Zibago @Srinivas
@GR!FF!N @migflug @Levina @randomradio @Guynextdoor2 @2800 @calmDown@all @zebra7

@Chinese Bamboo @Chinese-Dragon @Godman @Gibbs

@Windjammer @Horus @Arsalan @BDforever

 

[danger007]

You always open thread like this.. hehe

 

[halupridol]

 

[Nilgiri]

As the title says , Lets talk about and share stuff about our culture :

01 In my culture , in some families , Kids are taught to touch the feet of elders to get blessings .
02 In my culture , ( Particularly in my language ) To say its bad or to say its smelly , we say **** ^_^
03 We say Namaskar instead of Hello as greetings . Namaskar means I bow to God within you .
04 In my culture we believe in " Atithi Devo Bhava " which means ," The guest is equivalent to God "
05 In my culture in winters we use earthen pots to keep ourselves warm .
06 Mostly we don't wear footwear inside and never inside the Temple rooms within the house .
07 We keep fasts or perform fasting on lot of days .
08 We cremate dead , worship trees and never sleep with head pointing North >_< These days people sleep which ever direction they want .
09 Hindu Women put Mehandi or Henna on festive occasions .

10 Hindu women wear bangles of various kind .

Lets see how many cultural practices are similar ^^

@nair @proud_indian @Roybot @jbgt90 @Sergi @Water Car Engineer @dadeechi @kurup @Rain Man @kaykay @Abingdonboy @SR-91 @nang2 @fsayed @anant_s @Joe Shearer @Tshering22 @Dandpatta @danger007 @Didact @Soumitra @SrNair
@TejasMk3
@jbgt90 @ranjeet @4GTejasBVR @The_Showstopper @guest11 @PARIKRAMA @egodoc222 @DesiGuy1403 @Nilgiri @SarthakGanguly @Omega007 @GURU DUTT @HariPrasad @JanjaWeed @litefire @AMCA @Perpendicular @MilSpec @Spectre @Windjammer @Horus @GURU DUTT @litefire @AMCA @Perpendicular @abcxyz0000
@MilSpec @Spectre
@Ryuzaki @CorporateAffairs @Zibago @Srinivas
@GR!FF!N @migflug @Levina @randomradio @Guynextdoor2 @2800 @calmDown@all @zebra7

@Chinese Bamboo @Chinese-Dragon @Godman @Gibbs

@Windjammer @Horus @Arsalan @BDforever

Maybe you should ask some questions too so people can know what you are interested about in cultures specifically.

Like what are you interested to know or have any questions about Tamil culture?

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

Maybe you should ask some questions too so people can know what you are interested about in cultures specifically.

Like what are you interested to know or have any questions about Tamil culture?

Yup !

But I am not good at framing questions
I want to see and know if culture and religion to interchanged terms have influence on each other among other things .

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

What do you mean "My Culture"? These things are common in all of India(mostly). It's what we call "Sanskar".

So that is your culture?? To share pics like these in an online forum to troll??

But old say , Sanskar comes from Culture
As they say , its in our blood

 

[Grevion]

But old say , Sanskar comes from Culture
As they say , its in our blood

It's been going on for centuries and there is no harm in touching someone's feet for ashirvaad or saying Namaskar to the elders.

Sometimes it turns out to be beneficiary for you like when the grandparents, uncle or aunts gives you some money whenever you leaves.

 

[Nilgiri]

Yup !

But I am not good at framing questions
I want to see and know if culture and religion to interchanged terms have influence on each other among other things .

OK let me use your intro as guideline. Specifically Tamil Brahmin (TamBram colloquially):

We also touch feet of elders as mark of respect.

We say Namaskaram (sanskrit) very formally (somewhat rare these days), Vanakkam is more used these days given its clear Tamil lineage.

Yes guest = god is also prevalent concept. He is the 4th physical god on earth after Mother, Father, Teacher.

Footwear same thing as you.

Fasts as well. Amavasai (new moon) fasting used to be quite common among TamBram...now not so much. There are also seasonal fasts, specific dates depending on whether one is iyer (saivite) like me or iyengar (vaishnavite) brahmin....though there is no harm and even extra merit in observing both/alternating etc.

Cremating dead, orientation during sleep, mehendi etc is all the same as you too.

My father is still very strict proponent of sleep orientation and vastu principles in general. He is big into astrology. He has taught me much Sanskrit that I hope to pass down as well.

Other of my particular tamil culture specifics:

We say two responses to a sneeze (since sneezes come in pairs).....1st sneeze gets a dirgaish, second gets a poornaish...both from Sanskrit (sh sound is generally absent in "pure" Tamil).

I use much sanskrit vocabulary in my Tamil. Others can easily identify my caste because of it and other words I use.

Use of right hand to eat and for clean purposes (give/receive) and left hand for unclean purposes of course you will know about too.

All kinds of other cultural stuff practiced I can keep going on, depending how many generations back you want to go.

Festival wise, there is more focus on Murugan (Kartikkeya) in Tamil culture overall....many festivals found only in Tamil/South are Murugan ones like Thaipusam. But major festivals are the same as everywhere else (Deepavali, Navarathri etc).

Also books and musical instruments are revered, They must not be stepped over, touched with feet or disrespected in any other way. Apology must be given if done accidentally like with person (you know the gesture I am talking about, it is natural reaction when you accidentally touch someone etc).

The stepping over taboo also exists for people. It is a strict no no to step over someone on the ground. You must walk around.

Anyways thats all that comes to the top of my head. Specific questions are welcome.

 

[utraash]

The only culture which preaches one to infuse the feelings of gratitude in oneself towards every living being to make your surroundings happening(positive sense). Namaste implies upon bowing in gratitude in front of the other divine soul/source of energy( in Hinduism pure energy also means to the consciousness )...
Touching feet exercise is transferring the energy from donor to receiver if you know bit about human aura....

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

It's been going on for centuries and there is no harm in touching someone's feet for ashirvaad or saying Namaskar to the elders.

Sometimes it turns out to be beneficiary for you like when the grandparents, uncle or aunts gives you some money whenever you leaves.

That is an awkward moment for me . Relatives force to accept and Mother says NO
I was gifted a very costly watch on my Brothers Engagement and I received it in front of like 50 people

 

[T-72]

transcend cultural shackles, people, don't them hold you back.

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

OK let me use your intro as guideline. Specifically Tamil Brahmin (TamBram colloquially):

We also touch feet of elders as mark of respect.

We say Namaskaram (sanskrit) very formally (somewhat rare these days), Vanakkam is more used these days given its clear Tamil lineage.

Yes guest = god is also prevalent concept. He is the 4th physical god on earth after Mother, Father, Teacher.

Footwear same thing as you.

Fasts as well. Amavasai (new moon) fasting used to be quite common among TamBram...now not so much. There are also seasonal fasts, specific dates depending on whether one is iyer (saivite) like me or iyengar (vaishnavite) brahmin....though there is no harm and even extra merit in observing both/alternating etc.

Cremating dead, orientation during sleep, mehendi etc is all the same as you too.

My father is still very strict proponent of sleep orientation and vastu principles in general. He is big into astrology. He has taught me much Sanskrit that I hope to pass down as well.

Other of my particular tamil culture specifics:

We say two responses to a sneeze (since sneezes come in pairs).....1st sneeze gets a dirgaish, second gets a poornaish...both from Sanskrit (sh sound is generally absent in "pure" Tamil).

I use much sanskrit vocabulary in my Tamil. Others can easily identify my caste because of it and other words I use.

Use of right hand to eat and for clean purposes (give/receive) and left hand for unclean purposes of course you will know about too.

All kinds of other cultural stuff practiced I can keep going on, depending how many generations back you want to go.

Festival wise, there is more focus on Murugan (Kartikkeya) in Tamil culture overall....many festivals found only in Tamil/South are Murugan ones like Thaipusam. But major festivals are the same as everywhere else (Deepavali, Navarathri etc).

Also books and musical instruments are revered, They must not be stepped over, touched with feet or disrespected in any other way. Apology must be given if done accidentally like with person (you know the gesture I am talking about, it is natural reaction when you accidentally touch someone etc).

The stepping over taboo also exists for people. It is a strict no no to step over someone on the ground. You must walk around.

Anyways thats all that comes to the top of my head. Specific questions are welcome.

Most of the stuff is similar as expected .

But that sneezing part . I have seen variants of it here :

Like when you sneez , some one must be talking about you . Ill Omen in case you are leaving for work and someone sneezes . Going over some ones body or circulating a human is also some what taboo but on a lower scale .

 

[Grevion]

OK let me use your intro as guideline. Specifically Tamil Brahmin (TamBram colloquially):

We also touch feet of elders as mark of respect.

We say Namaskaram (sanskrit) very formally (somewhat rare these days), Vanakkam is more used these days given its clear Tamil lineage.

Yes guest = god is also prevalent concept. He is the 4th physical god on earth after Mother, Father, Teacher.

Footwear same thing as you.

Fasts as well. Amavasai (new moon) fasting used to be quite common among TamBram...now not so much. There are also seasonal fasts, specific dates depending on whether one is iyer (saivite) like me or iyengar (vaishnavite) brahmin....though there is no harm and even extra merit in observing both/alternating etc.

Cremating dead, orientation during sleep, mehendi etc is all the same as you too.

My father is still very strict proponent of sleep orientation and vastu principles in general. He is big into astrology. He has taught me much Sanskrit that I hope to pass down as well.

Other of my particular tamil culture specifics:

We say two responses to a sneeze (since sneezes come in pairs).....1st sneeze gets a dirgaish, second gets a poornaish...both from Sanskrit (sh sound is generally absent in "pure" Tamil).

I use much sanskrit vocabulary in my Tamil. Others can easily identify my caste because of it and other words I use.

Use of right hand to eat and for clean purposes (give/receive) and left hand for unclean purposes of course you will know about too.

All kinds of other cultural stuff practiced I can keep going on, depending how many generations back you want to go.

Festival wise, there is more focus on Murugan (Kartikkeya) in Tamil culture overall....many festivals found only in Tamil/South are Murugan ones like Thaipusam. But major festivals are the same as everywhere else (Deepavali, Navarathri etc).

Also books and musical instruments are revered, They must not be stepped over, touched with feet or disrespected in any other way. Apology must be given if done accidentally like with person (you know the gesture I am talking about, it is natural reaction when you accidentally touch someone etc).

The stepping over taboo also exists for people. It is a strict no no to step over someone on the ground. You must walk around.

Anyways thats all that comes to the top of my head. Specific questions are welcome.

You are a TamBram!
I thought you are somewhere from Karnataka.

And if we ever get a chance to meet(maybe in a pdf get together somewhere sometime in the future) i then will be very cautious in greeting you with the left hands.

That is an awkward moment for me . Relatives force to accept and Mother says NO

Why say no to free money. I bought my first video game after collecting all that money when I was a kid.

I was gifted a very costly watch on my Brothers Engagement and I received it in front of like 50 people

Dowry.
You should be jailed you lalchi Pandit.

 

[Nilgiri]

Most of the stuff is similar as expected .

But that sneezing part . I have seen variants of it here :

Like when you sneez , some one must be talking about you . Ill Omen in case you are leaving for work and someone sneezes . Going over some ones body or circulating a human is also some what taboo but on a lower scale .

Yah I was thinking of writing that when I was typing the sneezing one but forgot lol.

For the someone thinking about you, its normally associated with a fit of coughs...but yes can be many sneezes in a row too etc.

Yes the timing omen is there (for sneezing) as well along with other distinct sounds (like crow cawing, gecko lizard tutting, dog barking etc) to at least make you think twice/ use caution or avoid if possible etc.

We also have a custom for ashirvadam from elders (parents, grandparents, whoever is most senior in the particular place of departure) to prostate at their feet before leaving on big journey (and will be away for significant time etc) for their blessings.

Type of prostrating (mostly at temples or during home shrine worship) is different for men and women. Men do the full body to the ground one when possible, women do the more modest one (head and knees).

Also at temples we are very strict to follow a few principles in the visit: the temple must be circumambulated overall after obeisances are paid to the deities individually, vastu principles must be followed when washing legs and hands before entering, a final prostration must be done to the main deity at the end of worship (my family normally does it at right angles to the sanctum corridor rather than parallel) and we must sit down inside the temple at least for a few minutes before leaving. When back at home, feet must not be washed immediately when returning from temple (unlike regular excursions)....again you must sit down for a while.

You have anything similar to these? It stems from the energy philosophy that @utraash was talking about earlier.

I thought you are somewhere from Karnataka.

Many of my relatives live in Bangalore it must be said (and they take the side of Karnataka for Cauvery dispute and other such things).

We all for most part originate from Coimbatore....and going way back, from parts of Kerala. Kerala and TN have a shared history. Their script today is much closer to the older Grantha script of older Tamil-Malayalam language....whereas we changed it somewhat in Tamil.

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

You are a TamBram!
I thought you are somewhere from Karnataka.

And if we ever get a chance to meet(maybe in a pdf get together somewhere sometime in the future) i then will be very cautious in greeting you with the left hands.


Why say no to free money. I bought my first video game after collecting all that money when I was a kid.

Dowry.
You should be jailed you lalchi Pandit.

It wasn't that . I don't know why they gifted so many things . My Aunt got angry since her family got nothing but my sisters from Mothers sister got Saries