The human world is a multi-verse of diverse cultures surviving as one! With its unique beliefs and traditions, each community can seem obsolete and even completely bizarre to the other!
For anyone even bleakly interested in culture, there is no word called boredom! And as we travel and discover people's fascinating lives in other regions, we are certain to lend upon a surprise, sometimes unthinkable!
Here are some of the strangest traditions around the world! We highly recommend you hold your breath as you read on!
Famadihana
Famadihana is celebrated by the Malagasy people of Madagascar and is known as the turning of the bones! People dig out corpses of their ancestors at this gathering, wrap them in fresh cloth, and dance with them to live music.
Once done dancing, they return the corpse to the family tomb! This ceremony is usually held once in seven years to guarantee that the souls rest in peace! One can only imagine the smell at this gathering! Yikes!
Thaipusam
This Hindu festival of body piercings is not for the weak hearted! It is held in Southern India and Tamil-speaking communities across the world in January or February every year.
Devotees show their love and gratitude to Lord Murugan by piercing their tongue, face, and body with sharp metal spikes and skewers that are hammered into their skin!! This festival is said to commemorate Lord Murugan’s birthday and the victory of good over evil!!
Eating The Ashes Of The Dead
The Yanomami tribe of the Amazon, living in Brazil and Venezuela, hold a funeral ritual that borders on cannibalism! They do not believe that death is a natural occurrence but rather brought about by rival shamans' curses!
When a member of the tribe dies, they let the body rot in the forest for 30 days! After which, they collect the bones of the deceased and hold a cremation ceremony.
The ash left behind is then mixed with fermented bananas and gourd and eaten by the entire community!! This is something I really wouldn’t want to bite on!
Blackening Before The Wedding In Scotland
We all celebrate pre-wedding rituals, but the blackening held in North-eastern Scotland is as dirty as it gets! Before the wedding, the couple is kidnapped by their friends and family, and everything disgusting is thrown at them, from rotten eggs and fish guts to dog food and molasses!
This bizarre custom is meant to prepare the couple for the troubles and pains of marriage.
Wearing Rings To Get A Giraffe’s Neck
While we all find certain things attractive and beautiful in the significant other, Thailand’s Karen tribe is into really long necks! Once a girl turns 5, she starts wearing rings around her neck to elongate it.
More rings are added with the coming years until her neck resembles that of a giraffe! Long necks are considered a symbol of elegance by the Karen tribe, and this tradition has been passed down for generations, giving the Karen women a strange and uncanny beauty!
Feeding the Dead in Rome
Not many will know that graves in Rome contain pipes through which you can feed your ancestors! The deceased's family pour honey, wine, and other food items down these pipes so that their dead do not go hungry in their afterlife!
However, this tradition is not practiced as widely as in ancient times, with modernity knocking some sense into the living!
The Bathroom Ban In Indonesia
This bizarre ritual practiced by the Tidong tribe of Indonesia forbids newly-weds from using the bathroom for 3 days and 3 nights post their wedding ceremony! Gosh! One can only imagine how they survive!
The couple is locked up by the family and not allowed to use the toilet or bathe these days, and it is said to bring about a happy married life! In turn, the family feeds them minuscule amounts to help them hold on to this insane tradition!
Takeaway
We might never understand the strange things that people do, but it makes all the sense in the world! So much for diversity and respect for the multi-cultural world, we live in!
If you want to read more about interesting cultures, we suggest that you read our article on how Christmas is celebrated worldwide.
