The five most famous Malagasy customs are:

*CUTTING A BABY’S HAIR AFTER THREE MONTHS.

Up on their third month in this world, a Malagasy baby will undergo what is called “ala-volo”,
or the hair cutting ceremony. A person I the family with beautiful hair is invited to cut the
baby’s hair and put it on a large plate or bowl. The cut hair is then mixed with honey and
tuberous rots such as sweet potatoes. At this point, the family members eat this mixture. This
is a kind of rite of passage that allows the baby to fully integrate into society.
*ALL HOUSES SHOULD FACE WEST
When a Malagasy person builds a house, there are rituals and rules to be respected. One of
these is about which direction one’s house faces. Malagasy belief states that the best sunshine
is I the afternoon as the sun starts to set, so all houses should open up facing west. In the
traditional building process, the east façade is closed off with no windows or doors. Windows
are usually only located I the north, and doors in the west.
*THE HEAD OF THE BED MUST FACE NORTH
Inside the house, to allow positive energies to circulate throughout, everything has to be in
the right place. The north is the place where “holiness” meets “power”. According to Malagasy
belief, happiness and wealth come from the north; the south is the place of anything related
to production, and the west is the position of doors through which anything out of use is
through which anything out is thrown away.
*RESPECTING THE POWER OF A BLESSING
Before an exam or before leaving to travel for a long time, it’s important for a Malagasy person
to receive blessing from older family members. This is know as “ny tso-drano zava-mahery”,
which literally means” blessing are powerful”. The Malagasy believe that the blessing from the
family represented mostly by parents and grandparents will help them to be successful in
everything they do and will keep curses away from them.
*WRAPPING ANCESTORS EVERY SEVE OR NINE YEARS
You may have heard about the Malagasy custom know as “famadihana” which literally means
“to return a deceased person’s body”. It’s a big family gathering, the biggest one after a
wedding ad funeral ceremony. Members of the deceased’s family come to get her and
organize the big event where the deceased is exhumed and then re-wrapped. It’s a celebration
of life and parenthood.