World's 10 bizarre traditions

New Delhi: From eating the dead to living with them, human beings in the course of their evolution have indulged in some really bizarre rituals. Every religion has ceremonies and practices that mark life's milestones. There are a lot of traditions that seems really bizarre to the world where it is not followed. This is a list of the weirdest traditions in practice around the globe.1. Baby Throwing, IndiaEach year in a small rural region of India, named Solapur, parents climb the top of a 50 foot tower and hurl their babies off it. Standing below is a group of villagers who hold a sheet that they use to catch the baby. It is their belief that this practice will give their child a longer and healthy life. It's mostly the Muslims that partake in the practice but some Hindu families are known to engage in it too. 2. Burial Ritual Yanomami The Yanomamo tribe of Venezuela and Brazil forbids in preserving or keeping any parts of their deceased. Instead, the body is cremated and the ashes, which includes crushed bones, are given to the family to be eaten. They believe that by ingesting the remains of a love one, his spirit will live within them forever. 3. Famadihana Dancing With the Dead When it comes to saying farewell to departed loved ones, the Malagasy people of Madagascar stand firm to the belief of one last dance. Every seven years the Famadihana ceremony is held to send deceased spirits to the after world to join ancestors. According to the Malagasy, loved ones can not pass over until their bodies are completely decomposed. Bodies are stripped from graves, wrapped in authentic cloth and paraded around the tomb to live music. Until the bodies are mere dust, they continue to be excavated every seven years to join in one last dance. 4. Mourning of Muharram Some groups of Shia Muslims join in an ardous practice that involves body whipping with special chains that have razors and knives attached. They do this to commemorate the death of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of their messiah Mohammad. This tradition is practiced by all age groups; in some regions the children are forced by their parents to take part. This custom is observed by the people of Bahrain, India, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan. 5. Bullet Ant Gloves The Satare-Mawe people of the Amazon region of Brazil have an excruciating initiation ceremony for their boys. When a boy is on the threshold of manhood he must wear on his hand a glove woven with drugged bullet ants in it for ten minutes. And he must do this for twenty times over the course of a few months. After the glove is removed from the boy's hand, he will start writhing in pain and lose control of his limbs for a while. In the words of Steve Backshall, a television reporter who underwent the rite once, “If there'd been a machete to hand, I'd have chopped off my arms to escape the pain.” 6. Penis festival, Japan Basically, it's a penis festival. This japanese tradition celebrates fertility by holding phallic-themed parades and celebrations. On March 15th every year a giant wooden penis is hoisted into the air and marched across town to bring about regenerative abilities on the local crops, and to ensure fertility for everyone. WHOOP-EE fun for the whole family! 7. Finger Cutting of Dani Tribe While most cultures mourn the loss of family members, women of the Dani tribe in Indonesia must suffer great physical pain in addition to emotional pain. When a family member dies, female relatives must cut off a segment of one of their fingers. This practice is performed to satisfy ancestral ghosts. Luckily for the Dani women, this custom is rarely practiced anymore. 8. Bathroom Ban of Tidong Weddings in the Indonesian Tidong community have traditions that are truly unique. Perhaps the most adorable of their customs is the one where the groom isn't allowed to see the bride's face until he sings her several love songs. But the weirdest of them all is this – the bride and the groom aren't allowed to use the bathroom for three days and nights after the wedding. Tidong people believe that not practicing the three-day and night ritual would bring terrible luck to the couple. 9. Tooth Filing The ceremony is of great importance in the Balinese culture and is a significant in the passage from puberty to adulthood. This ritual is for both males and females and must be completed before marriage; it is sometimes incorporated into the marriage ceremony. This ceremony is executed by smoothing down tooth and eye-tooth. In Hindu Balinese belief system, this celebration helps people to free themselves from all invisible evil forces. 10. La Tomatina La Tomatina, the annual Tomato Throwing Festival, held in the Valencian town of Buñol, Spain. It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Buñol. The participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for fun.

World's 10 bizarre traditions

New Delhi: From eating the dead to living with them, human beings in the course of their evolution have indulged in some really bizarre rituals. Every religion has ceremonies and practices that mark life's milestones.

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