The strangest traditions in the world top 10. Unusual traditions in different countries of the world

The customs and traditions of other peoples are interesting, surprising, and sometimes strange and even shocking. People of other nationalities may express their feelings or spiritual mood in a completely different way than is customary among us. Also, the peoples of different countries of the world have unique rituals, beliefs and holidays that reflect their history or beliefs. Knowing all these nuances, you can better understand what they live in a particular country. Studying national customs is not only entertaining, but also useful if you are planning to travel.

The strangest and most original traditions of the peoples of the world

Undoubtedly, one of the important aspects of any culture is its rules of etiquette: the way of greeting, farewell, behavior at the table, etc. For example, among Russians it is customary to shake hands; loving and friendly Spaniards can generally kiss when meeting. But in Japan it’s better not to do this - they value personal space and only allow close friends.

What other unusual things are there in the world? Here is a ranking of the 10 most unusual traditions of other countries:

1. On the streets of India you can see men holding hands. This doesn't mean they are in a romantic relationship. This is how they show their friendship. But Indian couples in love never express their love publicly.
2. In Germany they don't clap when they want to applaud. To express their feelings, the Germans are accustomed to knocking on the table.
3. The people of some Asian countries, such as China, Korea or Japan, consider it good form to slurp while eating at a party. This way they show the owner that the dish is very tasty.
4. In Japan, it is considered indecent and rude to blow your nose in public. If someone needs to clean their nose, they do it away from everyone and very quietly.
5. For South Koreans, writing someone's name in red is taboo, and this is because red ink was previously used to write the names of dead people.
6. In Malaysia, pointing at something with your index finger is rude and offensive. Instead, it is common to point at things with the thumb.

Another interesting feature: while in many countries people shun cemeteries, in Denmark they are turned into parks of sorts where you can socialize. Quite a pragmatic use of space, isn't it?

Holidays are part of the culture of the people. They often involve unusual rituals and customs, which can be quite funny and sometimes frightening.

Monkey banquet

In Thailand, the Monkey Banquet festival is held annually, dedicated to the god Rama, who, according to legend, monkeys helped defeat his enemies in a great battle.

In the last month of November, the monkeys, who live in the province of Lopburi and are considered sacred among the locals, are served tables with a huge amount of fruits, vegetables, sweets and drinks in the middle of the temple.

They say that more than five thousand primates gather there and it takes about 2 tons of food to feed them! Their feast looks very funny: uncultured guests throw food, fight for the right to get the most delicious fruit, and tease the visiting tourists.

Tomato fights

Snowball fights are a thing of the past. In Spain, tomatoes are used for these purposes! At the Tomatina festival, held there every August, thousands of people gather to take part in a tomato fight. Vegetables are brought in on carts and all participants in the action throw each other for an hour, turning everything around into red slurry. In total, approximately 15 tons of tomatoes are used in the battle!

Officially, the holiday is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Louis, but in fact it has long been a magnet for tourists.

Goose Day

On the occasion of this Spanish festival, held in the city of Bilbao, a goose is chosen, greased and tied over the water on a rope. Competitors swim up to it in a boat and jump up to catch it. The goal is to rip off the animal's head. The winner receives his carcass and everyone's respect.

It is worth mentioning that previously they used a live goose, but then, at the request of the Animal Welfare Society, it was replaced with a dead one. The competition may seem cruel to some, but for the Spaniards it is an indicator of the strength, endurance and dexterity of men.

Cobra Festival

Indians have worshiped snakes since ancient times; cobras are considered especially sacred. In Indian temples there are images and statues of these reptiles; they pray to them and make sacrifices.

In some cities and villages of India, a festival is held in honor of the worship of snakes “Nag Panchami”. It takes place in the middle of summer. Just then, heavy rains flood the holes of the reptiles and they crawl out.

Nag Panchami is directly dedicated to the god Shiva, who is depicted with cobras around his neck. During the festival, people dance to music while carrying potted snakes on their heads. The procession goes around the entire village and moves to the main temple. After chants and prayers, the snakes are sprinkled with turmeric, given honey and milk to appease them, and released into the courtyard of the temple. Animals crawl, performing peculiar dances. The holiday looks spectacular and bewitching, which attracts crowds of tourists.

It is noteworthy that people are often bitten during the holiday, and some snakes are poisonous, but no one suffers from this. Phenomenal!

Night of Krampus

This terrible holiday is celebrated in the first 2 weeks of December before Christmas in Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland. About a thousand men dress up as Krampus - devilish creatures with horns and hooves, the antithesis of Santa Claus. They walk the streets, scaring children and adults. The Krampus beat the caught “pranksters” with rods.

The celebration is accompanied by mass fairs, processions and competitions. City residents compete for the best and scariest costume. They are not afraid of evil spirits!

Rituals and rituals

Particularly unusual and strange are the customs and traditions of the peoples of the world associated with religion, marriage and various initiation rituals. Some of them may seem absurd, but the natives believe that it is important, so they should not be considered stupid. Perhaps some traditions of our country also seem meaningless to some.

1. Japanese warriors still adhere to the code of Bushido, according to which in case of defeat he must commit suicide. It is better to die than to fall into the hands of enemies.
2. In Muslim countries, 2 days before the wedding, a girl is covered with temporary henna tattoos - mehendi, which symbolize femininity, fertility and good luck. They should only be applied by a happily married woman. Mehendi is usually painted on the feet and hands. The longer the tattoo lasts, the better, so the bride is even exempt from housework.

Chinese brides, namely residents of the city of Fuji, must cry for a whole month before the wedding. This is how they prepare for married life. Maybe they think that they will cry all their tears and won’t have to cry in the future?

• Here is another unusual folk ritual. When a person of the Tanomani tribe (Brazil) dies, his body is cremated. Relatives of the deceased mix the ashes with plantain decoction and drink. They believe that this pleases the dead soul, which finds a resting place in their bodies.
• The Greeks have a strange custom of not giving a damn about everything. In their opinion, such a ritual brings good luck and scares away the devil. They perform spitting rituals on various special occasions, such as christenings or weddings. In the old days, guests had to give a good spit on the bride's dress, but now everything is done quite symbolically. It is enough to say “tfu tfu tfu.”
• Young boys in Brazil undergo an extraordinary rite of passage. To prove their bravery and strength, members of the Satare-mawe tribe put their hands in a glove filled with poisonous ants. You need to hold out for 10 minutes, but the bites are unusually painful, and the pain lasts the whole day! There were even deaths.

In fact, every culture has a lot of fascinating things. Some may consider these customs inhumane. Others still look for meaning in them, because even the strangest customs and traditions in the world have an explanation.

Unusual traditions and rituals of the peoples of the world

Shaking hands as a sign of greeting for weaklings
Forget about wiping noses. Men from some Eskimo tribes line up to greet a stranger. After which the first of them steps forward and gives the stranger a good slap on the top of the head, and expects a similar response from the stranger. The slaps and blows continue until one of the parties (the Eskimos or their unfortunate guest) falls to the ground. Want to try this greeting? How would you like the tradition that flourishes among some tribes in Papua New Guinea? There it is customary to greet a man by touching the tip of his penis... men walk there almost naked.

Gender is a relative concept
For many Indians and Native Americans, the concept of “third kind” was quite popular (as a rule, it was applied to men who led a female lifestyle). Anthropologists call them “berdachi”, and contemporaries of such people called them more simply - “two-spirited”; berdachi played an important role in the life of the community. According to an article by researcher Richard Drexler published in the journal Social History, double-spirits tended to spend time in the company of women, doing housework such as cooking, sewing or any other social role characteristic of a woman. Moreover, other men from the tribe could take double-spirited men as wives. Drexler provides evidence in his article that boys, endowed with special beauty by nature, were initially raised as “berdachi”, because their beauty could later attract potential husbands. Unmarried “berdachi” played the role of “companions” of young warriors, who, if there were no double-spirits, would have turned their sexual energy to young girls from the tribe.

Will I marry you? Catch me if you can
When people began to unite into clans and tribes, the concept of “courtship” included a raid on the territory of neighbors, ending with the capture of a woman, who was forced to marry the valiant kidnapper. And although bride kidnappings died down with the advent and spread of organized religious beliefs, some cultural “atavisms” of this tradition live on to this day. Among the Arabs living in the Sinai Peninsula, there is a tradition: a girl receives the status of purity and modesty, which is directly proportional to how much she will resist on her wedding day and how many tears she will shed on this occasion. According to Irish tradition, a marriage is unlikely to be recognized as legal unless the bride makes an attempt to escape and the groom's friends do not catch her. In Wales, the tradition is that the bride's relatives should intercept the bride at the church door and try to escape with her, forcing the groom and his relatives to give chase; when the stolen bride is caught, she will be handed over to her future husband in a ceremonial manner.

A real man
A boy from the South African Xhosa tribe is considered a "thing" and not a person until he undergoes a traditional circumcision ritual called "abakweta". Catherine Stewart writes that the ritual is usually performed after the boy has completed the teenage stage of his life, but it can be performed earlier. To perform the ritual, the surgeon-priest comes to the family’s house at dawn, and as soon as the women see him, they begin to moan. As soon as the priest notices the boy who is about to undergo an initiation ceremony, he begins to scream, calling the unfortunate man a “dog” or a “thing.” The operation is performed with a sharpened blade, the boy should neither cry nor contort in pain. As soon as the foreskin is separated, the “doctor” proudly declares: “You are now a man” and throws the cut skin in front of the boy, who must lift the skin and, clenching it tightly in his fist, repeat: “I am a man.” The boy must bury his foreskin in an anthill, his wound will be lined with special leaves and smeared with mud. After which the priest prepares a mixture of water and earth from an anthill, smears this slurry on the face and chest of an accomplished man and, to top it off, forces him to drink a whole sip of the water-earth slurry. After this stage of the execution, the boy is painted from head to toe with white clay and wrapped in a new blanket, and the father of the “man” pays the priest 50 cents. Unfortunately, as Stewart testifies, many young people are then taken to Eastern Cape hospitals with conditions such as severe dehydration, sepsis and gangrene, many of whom never make a full recovery.

Bath twice a year, but why more often?
Due to the prejudices and excessive dissatisfaction of the church regarding the sight of the naked human body, Medieval Europe practically forgot about regular bathing and personal hygiene. Even wealthy families gave themselves a “full wash” no more than a couple of times a year, in May and October. Twice a year people took a bath in a huge tub filled with hot water. The head of the family or the owner of the house was the first to climb into the clean hot water, followed in order of priority by his sons, immediately after them all male relatives or guests who were currently on the estate. As soon as the men somehow scraped off the dirt from themselves, it was the women’s turn, the mistress of the house went first, after which the female children, the babies had to be dipped into the already pretty dirty water last. By the time it was the babies’ turn, the water in the tub was already so black that medieval matrons were strongly advised not to let go of the baby while bathing. So, actually, there is nothing surprising in the fact that women covered their hair, and men shaved their heads bald and wore wigs. But not everyone, not everyone, could afford good quality wigs. Instead of washing the wigs, they were stuffed into a loaf of bread gutted from the inside and baked in the oven. The heat of the oven fluffed the wig, making it voluminous, and voluminous hair was considered a sign of human health.

Seven times a year for success
Seven times a year, during a festival called Pon, Indonesians go on a pilgrimage to the holy mountain on the island of Java to perform a ritual that brings good luck. In order to receive the blessing of good fortune, they must spend the night of love with someone other than their own spouses. According to legend, wishes will come true only if an Indonesian lies with the same person all seven times.

Burning with love
Despite the fact that the “sati” ritual was banned in 1829, India could not easily and quickly abandon this part of its ancient culture. When a man died, his body was carried to the cremation ground, accompanied by his wife, dressed in her best attire, and her friends and relatives. Arriving at the cremation site, the wife had to walk around the funeral pyre 7 times and sit next to her husband’s body, rejoicing that she could depart to another world with him. After which the relatives tied the unfortunate woman and threw dry branches into the fire after it was lit. Even girls 10 years old had to perform the “sati” ritual if the man to whom they were given as a wife “played the box.”

Author of sadism
The Marquis de Sade, perhaps the most notorious author in French literature, is known less for his manuscript writings than for his penchant for playing hardball. The term "sadism," meaning a sexual perversion in which pleasure is felt in inflicting physical or mental pain on others, first appeared in dictionaries in 1834, 20 years after de Sade's death. In 1768, the Marquis de Salles hired a prostitute named Rose Keller, whom he kept in captivity for a long time, mocking her in every possible way. In subsequent years, he was found guilty of many sexual crimes, for which he was imprisoned for three decades, which perhaps brought a kind of pleasure to his perverted brain.

Creative greetings
According to the Betty and Franz Baumle Dictionary of Signs, the world uses different parts of the body in the most amusing way in the process of communication. For example, in Tibet it is customary to greet someone you know by showing him the thumb of your right hand and at the same time sticking out your tongue. In Tahiti, you can show your joy at your friend's arrival in a completely creepy way: cutting yourself with shark teeth and howling in pain. As a sign of greeting, Filipinos must rub the palm of their hand (or the guest's foot depending on their importance) on their face.

Alternative to "thank you"
In Thailand, it is considered absolutely normal to burp loudly after a hearty meal, but in the same Thailand it is considered impolite to step on food, point at something with the toe of a shoe, or touch another person’s head.

1. In Africa, members of the Masai tribe jump when they meet - the higher the jump, the more respect is shown.

2. In Norway, it is considered tactless to give up your seat on public transport to older people. There it is interpreted as a demonstration of physical advantage.

3. In China, loud “slurping” is encouraged. If guests eat silently, they offend the hosts and the cook. It is believed that quiet eating is eating without pleasure.

Express information on the country

The Earth is in third place in terms of distance from the Sun and in fifth place among all the planets in the Solar System in size.

Age– 4.54 billion years

Average radius – 6,378.2 km

Average circumference – 40,030.2 km

Square– 510,072 million km² (29.1% land and 70.9% water)

Number of continents– 6: Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Antarctica

Number of oceans– 4: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic

Population– 7.3 billion people. (50.4% men and 49.6% women)

Most populous states: Monaco (18,678 people/km2), Singapore (7607 people/km2) and Vatican City (1914 people/km2)

Number of countries: total 252, independent 195

Number of languages ​​in the world– about 6,000

Number of official languages– 95; the most common: English (56 countries), French (29 countries) and Arabic (24 countries)

Number of nationalities– about 2,000

Climate zones: equatorial, tropical, temperate and arctic (main) + subequatorial, subtropical and subarctic (transitional)

4. Also among the Chinese there is no custom of bringing flowers to the mistress of the house. Here this raises suspicions that the guest considers the house so unattractive that he brought flowers with him in order to somehow decorate it.

5. Norwegians don't give compliments in public. Even at school they don’t praise students in front of other children and don’t share grades with the whole class.

6. In Greece, when you come to visit, you cannot admire a painting or a vase. Otherwise, the owner will be forced to give it to you.

7. In Mongolia, guests are fed until they burp loudly. Therefore, it is not customary to restrain it - this is a sign that the guest is hungry.

8. Unlike our tradition, in Japan and Norway they give only an even number of flowers. It is believed that a flower without a mate feels lonely. An odd number of flowers is only suitable for mourning ceremonies.

9. In Japan, it is not customary to blow your nose in public.

10. Indians do not use the word “thank you” within the family. People here believe that loved ones do not need gratitude.

11. In China, the number 4 is a symbol of death. Even in the numbering of floors the 4th is missing.

12. In Arab countries, it is considered impolite to hand over the mouthpiece of a hookah. This is considered coercion.

13. In Japan, etiquette dictates leaving work only after your boss has done so.

14. The laws of Georgian hospitality require that the guest’s glass is always filled. Therefore, by emptying the glass, the guest forces the host to fill it again and again.

15. In one Indian state, a young wife has the right to leave her husband after 3 days if she doesn’t like something. After this, the girl can freely choose her partners.

16. In Kenya, after the wedding, the husband is obliged to wear women's clothes and do women's work for a month. This is done so that the husband better understands what it means to be a woman.

17. In Denmark, a flag hung in the window indicates that there is a birthday person in the house.

18. In Northern Kamchatka, in the past, it was customary for a guest to enter into an intimate relationship with the hostess of the house. It was believed that by doing this he paid tribute to the owner. If a child appeared after this night, the entire village celebrated his birth.

19. At every meeting in Latin America, it is customary to hug and exchange kisses.

20. There is no tradition of shaking hands in Japan. There it is customary to greet each other with a polite bow.

Every culture in the world has traditions that seem strange, unusual and even unacceptable to representatives of other cultures. Here is a list of the most bizarre traditions observed in different countries of the world.

Teeth filing, Bali, Indonesia

This Hindu religious ceremony is an important process during the transition from puberty to adulthood. The ritual for both men and women must be performed before marriage, and is sometimes included in the marriage ceremony. The tradition is to file down the fangs. It is believed that by this a person is freed from all invisible evil forces, because teeth are a symbol of lust, greed, anger, confusion and jealousy.

Wedding procession of the Tidong tribe, Indonesia

The wedding procession of the Tidong people is unique. Perhaps the most charming thing is that the groom is not allowed to see the bride's face until he sings her a few love songs. But the strangest thing is that the bride and groom are not allowed to bathe for three days and nights after the wedding. Tidongs believe that in this way good luck will come to the young family, and they will not face quarrels, infidelity and the death of newborn children. You won’t be able to lie and run to wash yourself: the couple is watched by several people, who, moreover, only allow certain amounts of food and drinks.

Finger cutting, Dani tribes, Western New Guinea

The Dani (or Ndani) people are an indigenous tribe inhabiting the fertile lands of the Baliem Valley in the western part of the island of New Guinea. Members of this tribe, in order to emphasize the depth of grief at funeral ceremonies, smear their faces with ashes and clay. But that's nothing. The second tradition is more terrible: when a person from the tribe dies, his relative cuts off his finger and buries the phalanx along with the corpse of his husband or wife, as a symbol of love. The finger represents the body and soul, which will always live together with his/her spouse or relative. Some cut off their fingers until they are unable to perform household chores effectively.

Mourning Muharram, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and several other countries

This tradition plays an important role among Shiites and is carried out in the first month of the Muslim calendar, one of the four forbidden months. The event marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala, Iraq, when Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Shia Imam, the prophet's successor, were killed by Yazid I. The event reaches its climax on the morning of the tenth day - Ashura. Groups of Shia Muslims beat themselves with special chains with razors and knives attached. This tradition is practiced among all age groups; in some regions, parents force their children to take part in the blood ceremony.

Gloves with ants, Mawe people, Brazil

This is a very painful ritual, which is practiced by the Mawe tribe living in the Amazon basin, but without it the young man will not be considered an adult. When a boy reaches a certain age, he goes out into the jungle with the local medicine man and other boys his age to find and collect the so-called bullet ants, which have a very strong sting and poison. This name is no coincidence: the bite of this ant can be compared in degree of pain to a bullet wound! The ants are placed in a large wicker mitten, and the boy must put it on and hold his hand there for about ten minutes. To distract themselves from the pain, the young men begin to dance a ritual dance. However, to prove that the sufferer is a real man, he is ready to endure this pain 20 times longer.

Funeral rites of the Yanomamo people, Brazil and Venezuela

Ritual ceremonies are very important for this tribe. When a tribe member dies, his body is burned and the ashes are mixed into plantain soup, which is eaten by the deceased's family. It is believed that by eating the ashes of a loved one, relatives help the spirit move into a new body. The body of the deceased must be completely burned, because among the Yanomamo representatives the process of decay seems terrifying. Moreover, the body must be burned as soon as possible, otherwise the soul may fly out of the body and haunt the living.

Famadihana ritual, Madagascar

The traditional festival is celebrated in urban and rural areas of the country and is especially popular among tribal communities. This funerary tradition, known as "turning the bones," involves people bringing the bodies of their ancestors from family crypts, wrapping them in fresh cloth and then dancing with the corpses around the tomb to live music. The ritual is usually held once every seven years, and the whole family gathers for it. For Madagascans, this is an occasion to pay tribute to the dead. During the ceremony, the relatives of the deceased dress very smartly, sing traditional songs and dance.

Baby Jumping, Spain

In a small community in northern Spain, residents participate in the El Colacho ceremony, which literally translates to "the devil's leap." Babies are placed on mattresses on the ground, and people dressed in devil costumes run and jump over the babies, thus protecting them from any future harm. This tradition is at least 4 centuries old.

The cultures of different nations have traditions and customs that have been practiced by these peoples for thousands of years, but at the same time seem completely wild to representatives of other nations and religions. And what’s most interesting is that these customs, which seem to have no place in the 21st century, are still alive today.

1. Thaipusam Piercing Festival


A strange tradition: the Thaipusam piercing festival.

India, Malaysia, Singapore
During the religious festival of Thaipusam, Hindus demonstrate their devotion to Lord Murugan by piercing various parts of their bodies. This is mainly seen in countries where there is a significant Tamil diaspora, such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand and Myanmar.


Participant of the Thaipusam festival.

In Tamil Nadu, Tamil believers celebrate the birth of the god Murugan and his killing of the demon Surapadman. They do this by painfully piercing various parts of the body, including the tongue. Over time, these rituals became more dramatic, colorful and bloody.

2. La Tomatina


A strange tradition: La Tomatina.

Spain
La Tomatina, an annual tomato throwing festival, takes place in the Spanish city of Buñol. Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival involves throwing tomatoes at each other purely for fun. There are many theories regarding the origin of Tomatina.


This fun La Tomatina.

In 1945, during the parade of giants and cabezudos, young people who wanted to participate in this event organized a fight in the main square of the city - Plaza del Pueblo. There was a vegetable table nearby, so they grabbed tomatoes from it and started throwing them at the police. This is the most popular of many theories about how the Tomatina festival came to be.

3. Stinging gloves


Strange tradition: stinging gloves.

Brazil
The most painful initiation ritual exists among the Satere-Mawe tribe, who live in the Amazon jungle. It is impossible to become a man here if you do not take part in this ritual. When a young boy reaches puberty, he, along with the shaman and other boys his age, collect bullet ants from the jungle. The bite of this insect is considered the most painful in the world and is often compared in sensations to a bullet hitting the body.

The collected ants are fumigated with the smoke of special herbs, which makes them fall asleep, and are placed in a woven mesh glove. When the ants wake up, they become very aggressive. Boys should put on gloves and keep them on for about ten minutes, while dancing to take their mind off the pain. In the Satere-Mawe tribe, a boy needs to endure this 20 times to prove that he is already a man.

4. Yanomami funeral ritual


Strange tradition: Yanomami funeral ritual.

Venezuela, Brazil
Funeral rituals performed for dead relatives are very important in the Yanomami tribe (Venezuela and Brazil), as the people of this tribe want to ensure eternal peace and rest for the soul of the dead person.


Over the past 11 thousand years, the Yanomami have had almost no contact with the outside world.

When a member of the Yanomami tribe dies, his body is burned. The ashes and bones are added to plantain soup, and then the relatives of the deceased drink this soup. They believe that if they swallow the remains of a loved one, their spirit will always live inside them.

5. Teeth filing


A strange tradition: filing teeth.

India/Bali
One of the largest Hindu religious ceremonies is of great significance in Balinese culture and symbolizes the transition from adolescence to adulthood. This ritual is for both men and women and must be completed before marriage (and is sometimes included in the marriage ceremony).

This ceremony is performed by filing the teeth so that they run in a straight line. In the Balinese Hindu belief system, this festival helps people to free themselves from all unseen evil forces. They believe that teeth are a symbol of lust, greed, anger and jealousy, and the custom of filing teeth strengthens a person physically and spiritually.

6. Bathroom ban in Tidun


A strange tradition: a ban on the bathroom in Tidun.

Indonesia
Weddings in the Indonesian community of Tidun boast some truly unique traditions. According to one of the local customs, the groom is not allowed to see the bride's face until he sings a few love songs for her. The curtain separating the couple rises only after the songs have been sung to the end.

But the strangest of customs involves the bride and groom not being allowed to use the bathroom for three days and nights after the wedding. The Tidun people believe that if this custom is not followed, it is fraught with dire consequences for the marriage: divorce, infidelity or the death of children at an early age.

7. Famadikhana


A strange tradition: famadikhana - dancing with the dead.

Madagascar
Famadihana is a traditional festival celebrated in both urban and rural areas of Madagascar, but is most popular among tribal communities. This is a funeral tradition known as "turning the bones." People carry the bodies of their ancestors out of family crypts, wrap them in new clothes, and then dance with the corpses around the tomb.

In Madagascar, this has become a common ritual, usually performed once every seven years. The main motive of the festival arose from the belief of the locals that the dead return to God and are reborn.

8. Cutting off fingers in the Dani tribe


Strange tradition: cutting off fingers in the Dani tribe.

New Guinea
The Dani (or Ndani) tribe are indigenous peoples inhabiting the fertile lands of the Baliem Valley in West Papua New Guinea. Members of this tribe cut off fingers to show their grief at funeral ceremonies. Along with amputation, they also smear ashes and clay on their faces as a sign of sadness.

Dani cut off the fingers of their hand to express their feelings for someone they love very much. When a person from the tribe dies, his relative (usually his wife or husband) cuts off his finger and buries it along with the dead body of his husband or wife, as a symbol of love for him.

9. Baby abandonment


Strange tradition: throwing babies.

India
The bizarre ritual of throwing newborn babies from a 15 meter high temple and trapping them in a cloth has been practiced in India for the last 500 years. This is done by couples who have received the blessing of a child after taking a vow at the Sri Santswara Temple in the vicinity of Indy (Karnataka).

The ritual is observed by both Muslims and Hindus every year and takes place amid tight security measures. The ritual is performed in the first week of December and is believed to bring health, prosperity and good luck to the newborn. Every year, about 200 children are “dropped” from the temple while the crowd sings and dances. Most children are under two years old.

10. Mourning of Muharram


A strange tradition: the mourning of Muharram.

Iran, India, Iraq
Muharram Mourning is an important period of mourning in Shia Islam, which occurs on Muharram (the first month of the Islamic calendar). It is also called the Memory of Muharram. This event is held to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, who was killed by the forces of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I.

The event reaches its climax on the tenth day, known as Ashura. Some groups of Shia Muslims flog their bodies with special chains with razors and knives attached to them. This tradition is practiced by all age groups (in some regions even children are forced to take part). This custom is observed among the inhabitants of Iran, Bahrain, India, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan.