Cultural views on the navel Early Japanese poems feature many references to the female navel. In some, the word "navel" actually refers to an indentation or hole instead of the belly button. The shape of the umbilicus of a newborn baby would be discussed at length. If a baby's navel points downward, the parents would brace themselves for a weakling child who will bring them woe. The thunder god Raijin, with his terrifying drums, great horns, and long tusks, was said to have an insatiable appetite for young navels, and mothers had to nag their youngsters constantly to keep themselves well covered up. Due to
Cultural views on the navel strangers with "ghoonghats". There is a belief in India that navel-baring has a symbolic, almost mystical, association with birth and life, and that the display is meant to emphasize the centrality of nature in the nurture role. In ancient Indian tradition, the navel of the god Vishnu is considered to be the center of the universe and the source of life. From his navel a new world emerges. This has been depicted in many ancient Indian sculptures as a lotus emerging from the navel on which god Brahma is seated. Although women in ancient India wore saris that bared the