We may or may not have visited Spain but mostly all of us have witnessed the La Tomatina festival in Spain, thanks to Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif who took us through the whole festival in their film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. We are also aware of how the Chinese thought that small feet were a mark of beauty thanks to movies like Memoirs of Geisha etc. but there are many such customs beliefs and traditions around the world that you have probably never heard of. Here’s a list of some such customs beliefs and traditions around Asia:
Ihi Festival
This festival is over hundreds of years old and is practiced by the Newar community of Nepal. Ihi or Bel Bibaha as it’s called is a ceremony in which pre-adolescent girls are “married” to the bael fruit (wood apple), which is a symbol of the god Vishnu. It is believed that if the girl’s husband dies later in her life, she is not considered or treated as a widow.
The Monkey Buffet Festival
If you ever happen to visit Thailand during this festival, chances are you might have some monkeys as your dining partner! In this annual festival, monkeys that live in Lopburi, Bangkok, are fed vegetables and fruits on a buffet table.
Tooth Filling Ritual
Want to get married in Bali? Well, you might just get to fill your teeth first. Before marriage, the bride and the groom have to go through a ritual of filling two of their teeth in order to keep any kind of evil forces away from the couple.
Japanese Noodle-Slurping
If we were ever caught slurping while eating at the table, our polished Irish nuns from school would probably throw a fit or ask us to walk out of the dining hall in school, but slurping on soba noodles in Japan is a must! It’s a way of showing appreciation for the food. The higher the volume of your slurp, the better is what they believe.
No Using Red Ink
Never make the mistake of writing letters in red ink to your friend in Korea, because based on their customs and history red ink was only used to write the names of dead people. Do you know of any unique traditions? Do share with us.
