Traditions
Why do Indians…? The customs, answered one at a time
The questions people search at midnight rather than ask an aunt.
8 pages
Each of these has a short answer at the top, the longer explanation underneath, and a note on where the practice differs across India.
Several of them also have a popular explanation that is repeated everywhere and does not survive contact with a source — the hygiene rationale for removing shoes, the nerve-endings account of touching feet. Where that is the case, the page says so plainly and gives the better answer.
New to this? Start with these three
- Touching feetWhat charan sparsh means, who does it to whom, what the texts actually prescribe, and why the popular energy explanation is not the reason.
- Indian namesWhy some Indians have no surname, why initials come first in the south, why Andhra puts the family name first, and what to do when a form rejects it.
- Removing shoesWhy footwear comes off at temples and at the door of most Indian homes — what the rule is really about, and why the hygiene explanation is only half true.
Everything in Why do Indians…
Touching feetWhat charan sparsh means, who does it to whom, what the texts actually prescribe, and why the popular energy explanation is not the reason.
Indian namesWhy some Indians have no surname, why initials come first in the south, why Andhra puts the family name first, and what to do when a form rejects it.
Removing shoesWhy footwear comes off at temples and at the door of most Indian homes — what the rule is really about, and why the hygiene explanation is only half true.
The diyaWhat the oil lamp is for in Hindu worship — what it signals, what goes in it, which oil is used where, and why it is lit before anything else is done.
TurmericWhat haldi does in Indian ritual — the pre-wedding ceremony, the colour's associations, its use at births — and what the evidence for curcumin shows.
Hindu godsOne God or many? Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta and Smārta traditions describe the Divine differently — and their answers are not interchangeable.
The wedding fireWhat the fire is doing at a Hindu wedding, what the seven steps actually are, who leads which round, and how the sequence differs by community.
Eating with handsThe real reasons for eating with the hands in India, which hand is used and why, and how the technique differs between north and south.
Fact-checked by Ajay Gupta on 7 September 2026.
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