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Malagasy Culture
The culture of Madagascar reflects the origins of the Malagasy people in Southeast Asia, East Africa and Oceania. The influence of Arabs, Indians, British, French and Chinese settlers is also evident. The most emblematic musical instrument of Madagascar, the ''valiha'', is a bamboo tube zither carried to the island by early settlers from southern Borneo, and is very similar in form to those found in Indonesia and the Philippines today. Traditional houses in Madagascar are likewise similar to those of southern Borneo in terms of symbolism and construction, featuring a rectangular layout with a peaked roof and central support pillar. Reflecting a widespread veneration of the ancestors, tombs are culturally significant in many regions and tend to be built of more durable material, typically stone, and display more elaborate decoration than the houses of the living.Acquier (1997), pp. 143–175 The production and weaving of silk can be traced back to the island's earliest set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malagasy Cuisine
Malagasy may refer to: *Someone or something from Madagascar * Malagasy people *Malagasy language Malagasy ( ; ; Sorabe: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language and dialect continuum spoken in Madagascar. The standard variety, called Official Malagasy, is one of the official languages of Madagascar, alongside French language, F ... * Malagasy Republic *Related to the culture of Madagascar See also * Madagascar (other) {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antemoro People
The Antemoro (or Antaimoro, ) are an ethnic group of Madagascar living on the southeastern coast, mostly between Manakara and Farafangana. The name of tribe means From Imoro. Imoro is an historical name for the homeland of the Antemoro.Numbering around 500,000, this ethnic group mostly traces its origins back to East African Bantu and Indonesian Austronesian speakers like most other Malagasy. A minority of them belonging to the Anteony (aristocrats), Antalaotra (scribes of the Sorabe alphabet) or Anakara clans claim being descendants of settlers who arrived from Arabia, Persia and the Islamic religion was soon abandoned in favor of traditional beliefs and practices associated with respect for the ancestors, although remnants of Islam remain in '' fady'' such as the prohibition against consuming pork. In the 16th century an Antemoro kingdom was established, supplanting the power of the earlier Zafiraminia, who descended from seafarers of Sumatran origin. The Antemoro (Anteon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasina (Madagascar)
Hasina is the concept of sanctity and imbued authority in the traditional culture of Madagascar. It is a spiritual quality that was the essence of social and political organization against the forces of disorder and wilderness, and evolved into the concept of kingship. An individual is believed to be imbued with ''hasina'', which can be augmented or diminished by their actions or by the tribute or authority conceded to them by others. Rulers in traditional society were the ultimate embodiment of ''hasina'', whereas community leaders and heads of families possessed relatively less. The same term, ''hasina'', was used to describe tributes given to political leaders, which in the 19th century Kingdom of Imerina The Kingdom of Merina, also known as the Kingdom of Madagascar and officially the Kingdom of Imerina (; –1897), was a pre-colonial state off the coast of Southeast Africa that, by the 18th century, dominated most of what is now Madagascar. ... typically took the form o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zanahary
Zanahary is the personified sky and supreme deity of Malagasy mythology and folklore. He (usually male, but sometimes considered genderless) is considered a creator god, having collaborated with the earth god Ratovantany to create humanity; upon death, the soul migrates to the firmament, while the body returns to the earth. For this reason, Zanahary is closely associated with the soul in the indigenous theology as well as ancestor worship. He is a national god of the Merina people, and frequently henceforth appealed to by Malagasy nationalist groups; most notably Ranavalona I promoted the worship of this god over Christianity. The Bara people and Betsimisaraka people possess a myth in which the role of Zanahary is taken by the personified sun, which accepts souls after death;"ASK BALLADEER: IS THERE A MALAGASY SOLAR DEITY?". Balladeer's Blog. 2018-06-03. Retrieved 2018-06-14. however Zanahary is typically assumed to be devoid of solar characteristics. Similarly there is an "ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fady (taboo)
In Malagasy culture, () are a wide range of cultural prohibitions or taboos. People, places, actions or objects may be the subject of ''fady'', which vary by region within Madagascar. The taboos are believed to be enforced by supernatural powers, and are particularly connected with Malagasy ancestor worship. Although some are held nationwide, others may be particular to regions, villages or even individual families. ''Fady'' are an integral part of Malagasy identity and play an important part in community and identity formation. The word is a descendant of Proto-Austronesian *''paliSi'' (compare with Sundanese ''pamali'', Old Javanese ''pali-pali''). Common prohibitions include those against pointing at a tomb, against the eating of eels by pregnant women and, for onlookers, against describing a newborn baby as ugly. New ''fady'' are created constantly. When a new initiative or business is started, a ritual offering (''joro'') must be made to prove that it is not ''fady''. Those ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Famadihana
Famadihana is a funerary tradition of the Malagasy peoples of Madagascar. During this ceremony, known as ''the turning of the bones'', people bring forth the bodies of their ancestors from the family crypts, rewrap the corpses in fresh cloth, and rewrite their names on the cloth so they will always be remembered. Then they dance to live music while carrying the corpses over their heads and go around the tomb before returning the corpses to the family tomb. They believe in celebrating the life lived by the dead person."Madagascar's dance with the dead" BBC, 16 August 200Accessed 17 August 2008. Famadihana appears to be a custom of somewhat recent origin, perhaps only since the 17th century in its present form, although it may be an adaptation of premodern double funeral customs from Southeast Asia and Oceania. The custom is based upon a belief that the spirits of the dead finally join the world of the ancestors after the body's complete decomposition and appropriate ceremonies, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veneration Of The Dead
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a afterlife, continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living. Some groups Veneration, venerate their direct, familial ancestors. Certain religious groups, in particular the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Anglican Church, and Catholic Church venerate saints as Intercession, intercessors with God; the latter also believes in prayer for Soul, departed souls in Purgatory. Other religious groups, however, consider veneration of the dead to be idolatry and a sin. In Culture of Europe, European, Culture of Asia, Asian, Oceanian, Culture of Africa, African and Afro-American religion, Afro-diasporic cultures (which includes but should be distinguished from multiple cultures and Indigenous populations in the Americas who were never influenced by the African Diaspora), the goal of ancestor vene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sakalava People
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar. They are primarily found on the western edge of Madagascar from Toliara in the south to the Sambirano River in the north. The Sakalava constitute about 6.2 percent of the total population, or about 2,079,000 in 2018. Their name means "people of the long valleys." Ethnic identity The Sakalava are a number of smaller ethnic groups that once comprised an empire, rather than an ethnic group in its own right. The origin of the word ''Sakalava'' itself is still subject to controversy, as well as its actual meaning. The most common explanation is the modern Malagasy translation of Sakalava meaning long ravines, denoting the relatively flat nature of the land in western Madagascar. Another theory is that the word is possibly from the Arabic ''saqaliba'', which is in turn derived from Late Latin ''sclavus'', meaning slave. History Sakalavas are considered to be a mix of Austronesian and Bantu peoples. Austronesian peoples from various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahafaly Tomb Painted Carved South Madagascar
The Mahafaly are an ethnic group of Madagascar that inhabit the plains of the Betioky-Ampanihy area. Their name means either "those who make holy" or "those who make happy", although the former is considered more likely by linguists. In 2013 there were an estimated 150,000 Mahafaly in Madagascar. The Mahafaly are believed to have arrived in Madagascar from southeastern Africa around the 12th century. They became known for the large tombs they build to honor dead chiefs and kings. Mainly involved in farming and cattle raising, they speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group. Ethnic identity This ethnic group label has been used by other Malagasy and foreigners to describe the people who traditionally inhabited the southwestern coast of Madagascar, bounded inland by the Menarandra and Onilahy rivers. The people themselves do not use this label or identify as part of a single ethnic group, however, and prefer to identif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animism
Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as being animated, having agency and free will. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Animism is a metaphysical belief which focuses on the supernatural universe: specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul. Although each culture has its own mythologies and rituals, animism is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples' "spiritual" or "supernatural" perspectives. The animistic perspective is so widely held and inherent to most indigenous peoples that they often do not even have a word in their languages that corresponds to "animism" (o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the last Islamic prophet. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous Islamic holy books, revelations, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injeel (Gospel). These earlier revelations are associated with Judaism and Christianity, which are regarded by Muslims as earlier versions of Islam. The majority of Muslims also follow the teachings and practices attributed to Muhammad (''sunnah'') as recorded in traditional accounts (hadith). With an estimated population of almost 2 billion followers, Muslims comprise around 26% of the world's total population. In descending order, the percentage of people who identify as Muslims on each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
