Lets Talk Culture

[Nilgiri]

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

Kashmiri pandit's very own Jersey Shore drama.

Nuh uuuhhhh, oh no you didn't!

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

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.



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.

I don't know , since we hardly ( Especially me ) go to temple .

After coming from cremation or from the house of dead , thorough washing of face hands and legs is done . In some cases complete bath . I have just gone on occasions to Shiv Mandir to pour water and leaves on Shivling and an event from my childhood when I shouted ALLAH O AKBAR in a temple and got my parents in serious trouble . I once tried to sit and spend some time in Ashram but never to return again .

Vastu , Yes but I don't think much emphasis is laid on it except for home building purpose .

Kashmiri pandit's very own Jersey Shore drama.

Nuh uuuhhhh, oh no you didn't!

Aye mare futi kismat . Ghadi mili wo bhi ruki hui

 

[Nilgiri]

I have just gone on occasions to Shiv Mandir to pour water and leaves on Shivling and an event from my childhood when I shouted ALLAH O AKBAR in a temple and got my parents in serious trouble

LOL! My greatest feat as a kid was a I pressed a shiny red button at a lighthouse which turned out to be a siren alarm or something lol. I was only two years old though and remember nothing of it.

Vastu , Yes but I don't think much emphasis is laid on it except for home building purpose .

I don't hear the end of it these days because my folks are making plans for their retirement house back in India right now...and I am in charge of the CAD design lol. Each week I get new feedback on the Vastu principles lol.

But as my dad will tell you, there is so much more to Vastu then just house design hehe. Anything to do with spiritual "energy" is covered by Vastu apparently.

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

LOL! My greatest feat as a kid was a I pressed a shiny red button at a lighthouse which turned out to be a siren alarm or something lol. I was only two years old though and remember nothing of it.



I don't hear the end of it these days because my folks are making plans for their retirement house back in India right now...and I am in charge of the CAD design lol. Each week I get new feedback on the Vastu principles lol.

But as my dad will tell you, there is so much more to Vastu then just house design hehe. Anything to do with spiritual "energy" is covered by Vastu apparently.

My bro was very interested in it . He also used to talk about flow of energy and ways to keep it intact and remove negativity like placing glass bowl of clear water in certain direction , North or North East may be

 

[Zibago]

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 ^^

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1 In my culture you are suppose to take care of your parents in old age and those who dont are looked as bad people

2 Most people go to weddings just to criticize something that went wrong
(Khab nahi acha,dulhan kitni badsorat hay,dulha kitna budha hay bla bla bla)

3 We say khuda hafiz instead of Good Bye

4 We turn off tv and music during Azaan

5 You are the worst human on earth if you get less marks than gharib Driver ki beti :-//

6 Eating with left hand is considered impolite

7 Guests must be taken care for even if you have nothing on you


8 Inviting people you barely know at your weddings :-//

9 Saying Asalam u alaikum ya ehle kaboor wgen passing graveyards

10 Saying Ina lilahe wa ina elehe rajion when hearing about someone,s death

11 Celebrating a happy event by distributing sweets

ok this is getting weird :-//

 

[Fenrir]

In my culture people who ask too many questions get tossed to the Nøkken!

 

[Nilgiri]

In my culture people who ask too many questions get tossed to the Nøkken!

Do they do Saunas in Norway as much as they do in Finland and Sweden?

I know you all have some weird love for smelly fermented fish and salty licorice

 

[Fenrir]

Do they do Saunas in Norway as much as they do in Finland and Sweden?

There's a fine line between a question and too many questions. Don't want to tempt the Nøkken now.

But yes, saunas are common in Norway and are usually found at hotels or sports centers, and are generally gender separated.

We even have a sauna boat - the Vulkana:

Sure it doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's a great trip none the less. I'd rather not post pics from the inside. Don't want to get banned.

I'm right at home in cold waters, having spend the better part of 5 years jumping into the Norwegian Sea, but I do love an outdoor hot tub too.

I actually have one in my back yard.

 

[Nilgiri]

There's a fine line between a question and too many questions. Don't want to tempt the Nøkken now.

But yes, saunas are common in Norway and are usually found at hotels or sports centers, but are generally gender separated.

We even have a sauna boat - the Vulkana:

Sure it doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's a great trip none the less. I'd rather not post pics from the inside. Don't want to get banned.

I'm right at home in cold waters, have spend the better part of 5 years jumping into the Norwegian Sea, but I do love an outdoor hot tub too.

I actually have one in my back yard.

Good lord its spread more than I thought. Do you folks whack yourselves with that branch/twig thing or whatever while steaming up?

Scandinavia, the weird (but awesome!) part of Europe. I guess the Danes are the most sane of you lot

 

[dadeechi]

We also touch feet of elders as mark of respect.

Same in Telugu

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

Grandikam / Formal - Namaskaram ; Vaduka / Colloquial - Dandam

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

Same in Telugu

Footwear same thing as you.

Same in Telugu

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

Unlike Tamil culture, Amavasya is not considered auspicious in Telugu culture. Ekadasi is considered auspicious.

PS : Saivites are generally considered less strict towards the customs & rituals while Vaishnavites are considered to follow them strictly. Interestingly I found most of the Iyers (mostly in Hyderabad) to be more strict but out going while Iyengar to be less strict (eat egg and less rituals) but reserved.

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

Same in Telugu

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.

Same in Telugu.

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).

Same in Telugu. Alternatively people use "Chiranjeeva" (Not Cine Actor)

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

People can easily identify if one is from Telangaana or Andhra based on one's Telugu dilect. Even with in the castes the dilects and cultures are different. For example, Reddys in Telangaana are very different than Reddys from Rayalaseema. Telangaana Reddys are closer to northern Karnataka Reddys while the Ralayaseema Reddys are closer to Reddiars in Taminadu. Vaisyas in Andhra eat meat while Vaisyas in Telangaana are vegetarians.

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.

Same in Telugu

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).

Narasimha, Venkateshhwara, Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Aanjaneya, Vinayaka, Lakshmi, Durga, Sararswati are major deities. Kumara swamy (murugan), Raghavendra, Ayyapa, Santoshi maa and Sai Baba are also quite popular.

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).

Same in Telugu

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.

Same in Telugu.

Like when you sneez , some one must be talking about you .

That is not for sneezing but for hiccups

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.

Exception being you need to wash your legs thoroughly & immediately and before returning home if you have visited Navagraha temple.

The reason given is that you do not want to bring Shani home along with you unlike in other cases where you want to bring the deity back to your home along with you.

There is always logic behind these advisories.

For example, in this case, generally Navagraha temple is fully of oil due to oil pooja performed to lord Shani.

Hence one's feet would become oily and slippery once one pays the visit to the temple. Hence one is advised to wash the legs thoroughly and immediately.

People who do not understand the basis of these customs think that these are just taboos or superstitions.

 

[dray]

@Kashmiri Pandit At your age you should be more interested in such beautiful hands instead of other things.

 

[utraash]

@Kashmiri Pandit At your age you should be more interested in such beautiful hands instead of other things.

At his age I took interest in palmistry & started predicting future.....
@Levina

 

[Godman]

Well when you say "culture" in SL, the things that come into mind is Vesak

And the Sinhala new year which means games ,food etc etc.
Festivals also have this Avurudu Kumari thing (which means new year princess) beauty contest

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

At his age I took interest in palmistry & started predicting future.....
@Levina

And I lost interest in Palmistry Some high profile Astrologer from Mumbai told me to stay away from Women till 29 since I am running my 12th house Ketu Mahadasha ( Ketu conjunct Sun in Gemini in 12th )

@Nilgiri , Cause of my low self esteem : Sun and Ketu in 12th

 

[friendly_troll96]

who deleted my culture posts?
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In my culture people who ask too many questions get tossed to the Nøkken!

What's your favorite midnight snack?

Do you eat junk food everyday?

What is the one, single food that you would never give up?

What is your weirdest "quirk"?

Whats your favorite movie?

What was your favorite toy as a kid?

Whats your favorite food?

What do you think is the most useless class in high school?

Whats your favorite day of the year?

Do you like soda or pop?

Do you shampoo first in the shower or soap?

Wet the toothbrush or brush dry with the toothpaste?

Pen or pencil?

Have you ever gambled at a casino?

Have you thrown up in a car?

Do you scream on roller coasters?

Whats your most missed memory?

When did you go to your first funeral?

Where did you go on your first airplane ride?

Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?