Madagascar Local Customs

 
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Religion- Belief system

by Norali

Although I've never been aware of this, not all Malagasy are Christians. It took me a stay in Brussels to meet a Muslim Malagasy woman for the first time (beside the Pakistani & Comoro communities, that is). The Moslem community accounts for 4% of Madagascar population. What surprised me lately was that the Christians don't even make up for half of the whole population. I used to think we were all Christians since my Malagasy acquaintances were all Christians. Wrong! Only about 40% of Madagascar's population are Christians. The remaining still maintain our traditional belief system. It is based on the ancestor worship & the belief in Zanahary = Creator. One has to say that the traditional Malagasy belief system does have a stronghold even on us Christians. Being Christian is not uncompatible with Famadihana (turning of the bones) for instance, neither with geomancy. We use to ask an...

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Grinding Rice

by Norali

A local custom that is closely related to food tips. For it to be rarely seen in urban areas, I present it here as local custom, that it accurately is.Every Malagasy diner is likely to include rice as staple food. In countryside, families cultivate their ricefields & store their harvests in their basement. Then, periodically, they bring some kilos of rice to the mill of the village. They leave the rice there to be ground. Then fetch the products afterwards: rice for diner & the bran for the poultry.However, when the rice grains still contain the rice envelopes (even after the mill), women in countryside use to manually ground it in a mortar. That is shown on the picture. Then afterwards, rice is sifted, to get rid of remaining rice envelopes... then only they wash it and cook it. See? Mrs chicken is hanging around, waiting for the bran and some rice seeds escaping from the grinding...You...

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No office neither shop opens on June 26, March 29

by Norali

No office neither shop neither museum opens on June 26, it is Independance day.If you go there in 2010, do expect a huge 50-anniversary celebration. Well, I hope.Same thing as for March 29. In March 29, 1947 MDRM (Mouvement Democratique de Renovation Malgache) executives undertook a strike in order to actually apply an existing text in French Constitution that would give freedom to Malagasy as for their government. This led to a 21-month guerilla against France and 100 000 Malagasy citizens are reported to have died. This is an important day in Madagascar history and is seen as important as June 26. We use to commemorate the event.This is, off course, beside Jan. 1, Easter & its Monday, May 1, Ascension, Pentecote (Whit Sunday) & its Monday, Aug. 15, Nov 1, Nov. 11 (not sure about this one, though.. an evidence I don't past-copy online diaries ;-)), Xmas, Dec. 30 (another local day.. not...

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belgianchocolate's Local Custom Tip

by belgianchocolate

Every journey has to have it's priceless moment , right?This was one of ours. When we visited the national parc of Mantadia , we also went to see Andasibe. A little loggers village , where the train station is still a witness of it's former glorie. These kids came shy after us and asked Frederik if he wanted to take a picture of them. Of course he did that? Soon a bunch of other kids came running to him...now , what was the meaning of all this? They had seen a digital camera before and they wanted to see themselves. That was just such a funny moment. Their faces and the pleasure seeing themselves.(pictures are by star-photographer Frederik , B-free)

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Hold the duck upside down...

by belgianchocolate

What would you do?You had a hard day at the office , worked longer then you wanted...had hunderds of long calls - all day long. AND then on top of all that your wife calls. She orders fresh duck for dinner and she insists that it will be very fresh. Very very fresh. This was the freshest duck you could get your hands on!I'm sure of that. We giggled a bit when we saw this...ok first we wondered how the duck was doing. But they seem to take it in a relaxed way. Strange. This picture is taken in Hell-Ville , the capital of Nosy Be on the main street. It is quit normal to have a chicken or a duck with you this way.In Belgium one would get attacked by animal rights activists.

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Asking and showing the way...

by Norali

While asking your way, you would notice something strange. Malagasy people show the way related to cardinal points. They rather speak in terms of "South, North, West, East" than "Left, Right".Personnally, I have problems in quickly distinguishing left from right. Even worse, I cannot manage to work with a compass neither.Funny enough, locals tend to locate themselves against landmarks. They can be monuments, buildings, crossroads, river... They just show you the way "Go North to the hospital", "My place is just across Mr. X 's house" (X belonging to a well-known family)...Worth noticing, we barely mention street names (except for the most known such as Avenue de l'Independance).One of most-known features of the city is this: this patchwork feature of a ricefield plains that used to run through Tana city (ricefields and marshes in the very center now accomodate houses). Still, we never...

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Paraky

by Norali

Tobacco chewing (sucking ?) is customary in some parts of the island. I don't know about the others but it is so in my region, Tana. I've never noticed people sucking paraky in other regions.Paraky is powdered (micronized) tobacco that is sold in bags (like our tea bags). The bag contains a certain quantity that the user uses to partition in several intakes. Usually, those who suck paraky place the powder between lower lip and the front gum. Hence the blackish or greenish gum of those who use to take paraky. So, they place some grams of the powder, use to let it "infuse", leave it there for awhile then replace it after some time. To get rid off it, they use to spit ! hence the black-green spits on the soils (not that Tana streets are covered by spits, though.. ). People who use paraky use to be small people, street vendors, fruit vendors, pousse-pousse pullers, workers... I've never used...

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Witness and participate in the zebu feast !

by Chyan

The zebu is a unique cow species of Madagascar because it has a hump like a camel. One of the zebu species in Madagascar is omby volavita, a zebu with a red coat, white spots on the legs and on the forehead. You must see zebu on the feast to claim that you have been to Madagascar.On the third day of Alahamady is the zebu feast known as the saotra or gratitude. It takes place in the royal palace. The king wears his ceremonial dress and presides over the sacrificial ceremony of omby volavita. The zebu's hump is offered to the king who licks it a bit and he wishes long life to everyone. The rest of the zebu is distributed to the Malagasy people and tourists.Each Malagasy family and village practise the zebu feast again at home. As they visit one another, they share teh zebu meat or "jaka". It is regarded as important to have even a tiny piece of it in order to mark attachment to the family....

Splashing water in Madagascar...

by Chyan

On the second day of Alahamady is the day of the Fandroana (the bath day), which marks the New Year. Wishes for a happy new year are then exchanged.In each Malagasy family, the symbolic rite of "misafo rano" which literally means "touch water" is practised, You can splash water to each other with water while exchanging wishes.It was a custom to kill a cock on thethreshold of the royal palace. The king would put a few drops of its blood pon his little finger, on his nails, on his forehead and on his neck while uttering words of blessing and extending wishes. The flesh of the cock was then distributed to the clans' chiefs.In the evening, at the royal palace, the court and the clans' chiefs would attend the royal bath (mampandro andriana). The king takes his bath behind a folding screen in the sacred corner of the palace (anjorofirarazana). When he gets out of his bath, he would bless the...

Participate on the first day of Malagasy New Year

by Chyan

On the first day of Alahamady, the Malagasy New Year, adults and children have a portion of chicken - the vodiakoho (rump) for the adults and elders, and fenakoho (chicken's leg) for the children. This testifies the mutual respect paid by each family member on the one hand,and the strenthening of family ties on the other.A Malagasy family gathers. Each brings flowers and fruits and you can exclaim "Manimanitra izy izany!" (What a nice smell !) with the family. Sweet smell denotes good luck and this time of the new year is called Asaramanitra (the time of sweet smells).At sunset, your children can participate in a torchlight tattoo (harendrina). The ceremony has the power of wielding off evil spirits. The harendrina ceremony is practised on the eve of National Day at home as a sign of unity. Ho9wever, a wife who is separated from her husband spends the bad night (alin-dratsy) discreetly...

Local traditions and culture in Madagascar

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Local Customs: Cities in Madagascar
  1. Antananarivo Local Customs
  2. Antsirabe Local Customs
  3. Ambohimanga Local Customs
  4. Malaza Local Customs
  5. Tangorombohitr' Isalo Local Customs
  6. Anosy Avaratra Local Customs
  7. Mahavelona Local Customs

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Has anyone used Desire Travel Tours and had problems just before arriving? I'm 12 days from departure to Madagascar from Kenya... 

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A: I think you may be jumping to bad conclusions too quickly. I have been a tour director for several decades, and have a pretty good handle on most operators. It is... 

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