Indian Taboos and Customs

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India Taboos and Customs

The country of India is not only the second most densely populated country in the world with the world’s ninth largest economy along with some of the strangest taboos and customs. India contains over 1.2 billion people, various religions like Muslim, Hinduism, along with different gesture and greeting taboos, the Kashmir conflict and the fierce competition to fight for the Kashmir Valley and how taboos of India compare to the likes of other counties taboos. India is a very unique country that is like no other on Earth.

Taboos and Customs influence the culture and society of modern day India and they have been in use since the discovery of India. According to the dictionary of Merriam Webster the definition of Taboos is the, “forbidden to profane use or contact because of what are held to be dangerous supernatural powers,” and customs is “a usage or practice common to many or to a particular place or class or habitual with an individual.” India is home to an estimated 1,205,073,612 people as of July 2012 which is second among the world ranks. India also poses a large population of Hindu majority of 81.3%, and 12% of the population are of Muslim religion (cia.gov). Hinduism is a mystical religion which is the longest living religion with no record of the beginning. The religion of Islam whose followers are called Muslims is the world’s second largest religion which was founded by Muhammad in 7th century Saudi Arabia. Overall many factors could contribute to the customs and taboos of India in everyday life or even greeting a person (himalayanacademy.com).

India is known for the various greeting customs that differ between situations of male with male, male to female, and female to male. In a circumsta...

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5. "Travel Taboo." Travel Taboo. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. .

6. "Nine Beliefs of Hinduism." Hindu Basics. Himalayan Academy. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. .

7. "Q&A: Kashmir Dispute." BBC News. BBC, 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

8. "Chinese Taboo." About.com Chinese Culture. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

9. "What Are Some Main Cultural Taboos of America?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

10. "Be a Catalyst for Change:Women's Rights in India." - GlobalGiving. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. .

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