This might be off topic. But I found it to be interesting and wanted to share it.
I have an Assamee friend and she was telling me about the results of a research her uncle had done long time back.
Assam didn't have Brahmins initially. It was a land of Raakshasha (Gadothgaja and Narakasura). There were a few Chinese tribes too. But the people of modern day follow many things that the Malayalees follow. She cited many things.
Eating from plantain leaf is one. The puttu (steamed rice flour) which is a famous Mallu dish is had by Assamee's too. The Vishu (Malayalee new year) is celebrated as Bihu in Assam on the same day. The two piece dress of the Malayalees and the Assamese is a coincidence? Using a stick to beat the cloth while washing is followed by Assamese too (Might be followed elsewhere too). The Assamese just like the Malayalees use a lot of coconut and coconut oil.
All these things surprised me. This must have been way back in time. This is possible only if the Malayalee's had settled in Assam or people had moved back and forth between the two places. What could be the reason for this settlement? Does any one know more about it? It must have been a large scale migration.
similar landscapes, vegetation, climate could also be the reasons for the clothing and food
foods like puttu steaming of powdered rice in bamboo pieces is very popular all over the far east
and new years day - lots of new years are celebrated during that time. even out tamil new year The Punjabi new year Vaisakhi is celebrated on 13 April The Nepali new year is celebrated in spring, on the first day of the lunar month Baisakh. In the English calender, it usually falls between 12 - 15 April. The Thai New Year is celebrated from 13 April to 15 April by throwing water. The Cambodian New Year and Lao New Year are celebrated from 13 April to 15 April. The Bengali New Year Pohela Baisakh is celebrated on 14 April or 15 April in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The Sinhalese New Year falls In April
Hi, I am doing PhD in IIT Guwahti, Assam. I am here for the past one year...but I don't find Assamese don't use coconut oil at all....Here the use of coconut is very less indeed. They only use mustard seed oil....
I too have seen north Indians using a lot of mustard oil. But, this info was passed on to me by an Assamee friend.
Thanks Venkatesh for so much of related information. I was just intrigued and wanted to know more about this. May be the landscape has got to do with this. The two parts of the land are so far apart that I was surprised by the similarity.