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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. There might be a discussion about this on the talk page. Birthday cakes are very commonplace in birthday celebrations.

Here, a black forest cake is adorned with candles and a topper indicating the recipient’s 40th birthday. A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. In Nepal and India, on a child’s first birthday, their head is shaved while being held by a special fire. Removal of the hair is believed to cleanse the child of any evil in past lives, and symbolizes a renewal of the soul. Hindu male children of some castes, like Brahmins, have the 12th or 13th birthday replaced with a grand “thread ceremony”. The child takes a blessed thread and wears it, symbolizing his coming of age. In the Philippines, a coming-of-age party called a debut is held for young women on their 18th birthday, and for young men on their 21st birthday.

In some Asian countries that follow the zodiac calendar, there is a tradition of celebrating the 60th birthday. In Japan there is a Coming of Age Day, for all of those who have turned 18 years of age. In British Commonwealth nations cards from the Royal Family are sent to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and every year thereafter. In Ghana, on their birthday, children wake up to a special treat called “oto” which is a patty made from mashed sweet potato and eggs fried in palm oil.

Later they have a birthday party where they usually eat stew and rice and a dish known as “kelewele”, which is fried plantain chunks. Jewish boys have a bar mitzvah on their 13th birthday. Jewish girls have a bat mitzvah on their 12th birthday, or sometimes on their 13th birthday in Reform and Conservative Judaism. The birthdays of historically significant people, such as national heroes or founders, are often commemorated by an official holiday marking the anniversary of their birth. Catholic saints are remembered by a liturgical feast on the anniversary of their “birth” into heaven a. An individual’s Beddian birthday, named in tribute to firefighter Bobby Beddia, occurs during the year that their age matches the last two digits of the year they were born. The birthday of Jesus is celebrated at Christmas.