Circumcision is an important ritual among the Tanala, as in many other Malagasy ethnic groups. A range of fady are associated with the practice, particularly for nobles. A noble Tanala mother became subject to a new range of fady after the circumcision of her son. She was thereafter forbidden to take her son for a walk, eat on her own bed or in secret, or consume dried meat of any kind or the meat of a zebu that had been slaughtered (as opposed to having died of natural causes). If she broke any of these taboos, or if the child urinated or defecated during the circumcision ceremony, the child would lose his noble status (an older fady previously required that the child be put to death in such cases).
