Superstitions in India are prevalent and are based on myths, legends, fables, traditions and stories.
People stop if a black cat crosses their path, or if someone sneezes, auspicious work is postponed. Common superstitions in India today include a black cat crossing the road being bad luck, cutting fingernails/toenails at nighttime is considered to give bad luck, a crow calling meaning that guests are arriving, drinking milk after eating fish causing skin diseases, and itchy palms signaling the arrival of money.
Overview Superstitions are usually attributed to lack of education; however, this has not always been the case in India, as there are many educated people with beliefs considered superstitious by the public. Superstitious beliefs and practices vary from one region to another, ranging from harmless practices such as lemon-and-chili to terms in order to ward off the evil eye, to harmful acts like witch-burning.
Being part of tradition and religion, these beliefs and practices have been passed down from one generation to another for centuries. The Indian government has tried to put new laws prohibiting such practices into effect. Due to the rich history of superstition, these laws often face a lot of opposition from the general public. In 2013, Narendra Dabholkar, an anti-superstition specialist, who was also the founder of the Committee for the Eradication of Blind Faith, was fatally shot by two bikers for requesting the enactment of a law that prohibits black magic. Critics argued that the Indian constitution does not prohibit such acts.
Past
Sati
Sati is the act or custom of a Hindu widow burning herself or being burned to death on the funeral pyre of her husband. After watching the Sati of his own sister-in-law, Ram Mohan Roy began campaigning for abolition of the practice in 1811. The practice of Sati was abolished by Governor General Lord William Bentinck in British India in 1829.
On 4 September 1987, 18-year-old Roop Kanwar, from Deorala, Rajasthan, who had been married for 7 months, was burned to death on her husband's pyre. It was alleged the victim had tried to escape, but she was drugged and forced on to the pyre. On 1 October 1987, the legislative assembly of Rajasthan passed an ordinance against Sati, which was later turned into an Act. It was followed by pro-Sati rallies and protests in Jaipur. On 3 January 1988, the Indian parliament passed a new law (Commission (Prevention) of Sati Act 1987) based on Rajasthan's legislation of 1987, which also criminalized the glorification of Sati. Police charged Kanwar's father-in-law and brother-in-law of allegedly forcing her to commit the act, but they were acquitted in October 1996.
Human sacrifice
Although human sacrifices are not prevalent in India, rare isolated incidents do happen, especially in rural areas. In some cases, humans have been replaced by animals and birds. This has caused backlash from animal rights groups, so in some places they have again been replaced by human effigies. The motives behind these sacrifices include inducing rainfall and helping childless women conceive. It is alleged that cases often go unreported or are covered up. Between 1999 and 2006, about 200 cases of child sacrifices were reported from Uttar Pradesh.
Prevalent Auspicious days In Hinduism, people are believed to have auspicious or favourable days on which they will have a high probability of success in any task they do. Such days with a certain time are calculated based on the individual's birth star, moon, and planetary phases according to Hindu astrology. Starting a business or businesses signing new deals or starting new ventures is mostly conducted on auspicious days of persons involved in the business. Hindu marriages are also done in a matching auspicious time and date of a bride and groom according to Hindu astrology and horoscope of the bride and groom.
Fortune telling Fortune telling is a common practice in India. Fortune tellers have a variety of ways of predicting the future like palmistry, consulting horoscope, numerology, parrot astrology, boom boom mattukaran etc.
Godmen and faith healers
The word godman in modern usage is a colloquial blanket term used for charismatic spiritual leaders in India. Locally, they may be referred to as baba, swami, guru, shastri, bapu or bhagat. Many of them claim to have magic or psychic powers and perform miracles. On the other hand, some only provide spiritual advice. There are also female gurus. Many of them are worshiped by their followers as avatars or living gods. Many of them belong to ancient ascetic lineages or claim to be successor to some previous spiritual predecessor. Some of them have built large pan-Indian or international networks. Their recent success has been attributed to the use of mass media and public relations techniques.
Horoscopes In India, people who follow Hindu religion believe to be born with a star on their name which is one of twenty seven stars in Hindu astrology based on their time and date of birth. They also believe that planets and their position and size and shape of moon such a full moon or full solar eclipse influence their day-to-day life. Horoscopes are tailored to each and every Hindu person and a horoscope typically mentions any defects or negative influences a person has or may face. Horoscope is used in marriages in which the bride and groom should have a matching horoscope which is also called Janam Kundali. Without a matching horoscope, a marriage between Hindu male and female may not happen. Hindu wedding matchmakers typically carry information about a person's horoscope. Hindu persons prefer arranged marriage as it allows them to find a bride or groom with a matching horoscope.
A person born under the influence of Mars (Mangala) is said to have Mangala Dosha ("mars defect"); such a person is called a manglik. According to the superstition, the marriage between a Manglik and a non-Manglik is disastrous. To prevent this disaster, the manglik person is first married to a tree, an animal, or an inanimate object, so that the purported evil effects of the mangala dosha befall on the mock "spouse".
Lemons
Lemons are generally considered as a counter weapon to a "mantra" which is a spell that can be also used for trickery or evil. Some Hindu people also carry lemons while travelling so that they cannot fall under the spell of a "mantra" of a stranger.
According to the nimbu totka or nimbu mirchi totka superstition, hanging a lemon strung with seven chili peppers wards off evil spirits and Alakshmi, the Hindu goddess of misfortune. People hang lemons and chillies - sometimes with a piece of coal - outside their homes and shops, or in their vehicles. According to one explanation, the superstition may be based on the belief that beneficial Vitamin C from the lemon and the chillies is released into the air, and that their odor can repel insects and other pests.
Stepping on a lemon is also considered to cause harm to a person as the lemon may be enchanted with a "mantra" or a dark spell. Lemons and coconuts are used in Hindu rituals called pooja. Government of India frequently performs Hindu rituals on vehicles, computer and electronic equipment, airplanes, jetplanes and weapons. Breaking a coconut in such pooja is also common. Hindus do Shastra pooja which is goddess worship is performed on weapons.
Solar and lunar eclipses
There are several superstitions associated with solar eclipses. Solar eclipses are associated with war, violent events and disasters. Any cooked food is considered to have become impure during the event; they are thrown away or given to beggars. People don't eat or cook food during the event. Temples are closed before the event and reopened after the event is over. Many shops also remain closed. Pregnant women are advised to stay indoors. It is considered inauspicious to give birth during the event. Solar eclipse are also said to cause miscarriages Other people also avoid venturing outside. It is believed that the sun rays become toxic during the event and a bath must be taken after the event. Indian stock exchanges also observe a drop in trades during eclipses. There are some reports of disabled children being buried neck-deep in sand or mud in hopes of curing their disabilities. Similar beliefs exist around lunar eclipses, where food is avoided and people refrain from venturing outside. Rationalist organisations have been trying to eradicate these superstitions by organising events during eclipses, where people are encouraged to drink water and eat food.
Vastu This is a superstition common in Hinduism which defines how a house or a building should be constructed and how the orientation and direction and location of rooms and doors should be arranged. Many construction companies in India construct buildings according to it. Hindus follow vastu and they believe that bad things happen in their life or deterioration of their health or disputes with others are due to vastu doshas or defects and they try hard to remedy those defects by altering living space or with other things which counter the effects of vastu. Vastu is similar to Feng shui in China but with more psychological implications for not following vastu correctly.
Notable persons and incidents Originally from Sri Lanka, Swami Premananda moved to India in 1984 and founded an ashram in Pudukkotai, Tamil Nadu, in 1989. In 1996, one of the girls living the ashram escaped and reported that she was raped and was pregnant. In view of the so-called spiritual powers of the accused, which included doing miracles like materializing vibhuti and regurgitating small Shiva lingams, an illusionist was invited to the court and he performed both the miracles in the open court. In 1997, the Swami was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined lakh for 13 counts of rape and a murder. Chandraswami, astrologer and spiritual guru, was a close associate of former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He was indicted in several lawsuits including in the assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 2011, the Supreme Court of India fined him crore ( million) for multiple violations of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). In December 2002, Santosh Madhavan defrauded an Indian expatriate woman living in Dubai of ( lakh) by claiming he had supernatural powers, and disappeared. The Interpol issued an alert for his arrest on the advice of Dubai police. Later in 2008, his photograph was recognized by the woman in a magazine and she realized that the person was living in Kochin pretending to be a godman called Swami Amritha Chaitanya. On learning of the Interpol alert, he denied the allegations, but the local police were suspicious and decided to search his properties. The police discovered CDs containing child porn from the premises. He was convicted of raping under-aged children and sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment in May 2009. In August 2002, when psychic surgeon Reverend Alex Orbito visited Bangalore from Philippines, some rationalists filed a case in the city court. The city court declared psychic surgery to be a trick and ordered the organizers to stop the event. The organizers ignored the order and decided to go ahead. The court ordered arrests for contempt of court but Alex Orbito evaded arrest and escaped from the country. Bangalore police has stated that there are no plans to extradite him but he will be arrested if he tries to return to Bangalore. In September 2013, when the large and influential guru Asaram Bapu was acquitted for the rape of one of his devotees living at his ashram, his blindly trusting devotees learned about the true nature and practices at the ashram. In his ashrams, there were many types of abuses occurring in the name of being a true devotee. Underage girls were sexually abused. After being caught, he was sentenced to life.