Traditions belong to religion or culture. The customs found in each region, tribe, and family are different. These marriage, death, and childbirth rituals are essential to those who believe in them. While other people feel strange. As times changed, many traditions died, and even those who believed in these traditions and customs did not think it appropriate to take them along. But there are still some people who are involved in their rituals. In this age of information technology, it has not been difficult to know about any country's culture and customs when the world has become a global village. Below are some traditions/rituals that you might find strange reading, but those who believe in them still exist today.
Women Have Their Fingers Cut When Their Beloved Die
Emotional pain is part of the grieving process for the human, but for the women of the Dani tribe, it requires physical pain too. Some tribe members have cut off the top of their fingers upon attending a funeral. This custom is specific to the woman. This ritual is now banned in New Guinea, but the practice can still be seen in some older women of the village who have cut off their fingers. They say their pain is part of the feeling of losing their loved one, and it will relieve the dead body's spirit. After cutting off their fingertips, they let them dry and then save them in a specific place.
The Modern Mummies of Anga Tribe
After dying in different religions, different methods are adopted to send the body to the next world. In Islam and Christianity, men are buried, while Hindus burn their men and pour their ashes into the Ganga and Jamuna. In Egypt, the bodies were stored with chemicals. But in Papua Geneva, the people of the "Anga tribe" preserve the bodies differently on the tops of the mountains. Although the procedure is like the mummies in Egypt. But their style differs from theirs. They use smoke to preserve the body. The body is burned in a cottage for 30 days and burned in smoke. Then, instead of burying or burning it, they tied the body with ropes on high peaks of hills in the village. So they can monitor the body as they enter the town. People of Anga tribes preserve the bodies in a seated style rather than lying down, while on the hills, baskets are made of bamboo wood, the mummy is sitting in it, and his hands and ankles are tied with ropes. The mouth, ears, and nose of the body are sealed so nothing from the outside can enter the body.
Once the body is smoke-laden, it is coated with clay, protecting it from decomposing. The people of the Anga tribe bring men down from the tops of the mountains during different festivals, and when the festivities are over, they leave them again in the mountains. The people of the Anga tribe say their mummified men have many fighters and believe their fighters are still protecting them after they die. That is why a particular place is chosen for the bodies of the warriors. Many people died from Japanese soldiers during World War II. This mummification style can be dangerous and scary to many people, which is why it was banned in 1975 after the liberation of Papua New Guinea. Some people from the Anga tribe are still following this method, while others are now burying their bodies.
Arrange A Banquet On Death
A death-row banquet is arranged for all the region's people, where dozens of animals are slaughtered in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. People in this tribe collect money for a lifetime to make special arrangements for their death. When a person dies, his body is stored in the house's basement for several days. During this time, money is collected from all over the family to prepare a wonderful meal for the guests on the day of the burial. People from outside the tribe may also attend the banquet. They do not wear red or black clothing. The matter does not end here, but a different method has been adopted to bury the dead, whereby the dead are buried in the rocks rather than in the ground. The burial is drilled in the rocks of the mountains or buried in it, or the dead body is hung in a coffin with mountains. After the burial, a statue of the corpse is made, and the statue is hung outside the rock so that the deceased's soul can come to the statue to see its final resting place. Another tradition of this tribe is that if a child dies, it is buried in the trees rather than on these hills. The child's mother wraps the baby in a cloth, drills it into a tree, and lies in it. The hole is closed at the top, and as the hole in the tree is healed, it is assumed that the baby is absorbed in it.
111 New Plants Are Planted at The Birth Of A Daughter
Although the Hindu religion does not express happiness over the birth of girls. In the Indian state of Rajasthan, one hundred eleven new plants are planted in the area to celebrate the birth of a daughter. If sixty girls are born annually, villagers grow two and a half million trees yearly.
Fire Football Game
Indonesia plays a game of fire for the joy of the coming month of Ramadan. In this game, a ball is created from the fire, which has the same shape and style of play as the football. Locals call this game "sepak bola api." In this game, like football, each team has eleven players and tries to score goals against the opposing team. This game is usually played at night. The players have to go through a spiritual process to play this game. In which one has to fast for twenty-one days before the game. Various verses are read, avoided by the food cooked on the fire. The players become spiritually cleansed after this practice of purification for twenty-one days. In these twenty-one days, players fast during the day and wake up all night; after going through all these stages, the players do not feel afraid of fire, which is why they stumble on this ball of fire barefoot.
Jump Over The Kids
In Spain, this tradition has been going on since the sixteenth century; one day a year, the festival is called the "Catholic banquet," in which children born all year round are laid on the road, and one person becomes a devil. Jumps on top of them. Locals say, by doing so, their children are safe from lifelong troubles and dangerous diseases.
Dead's Begging
In Indonesia's tribal areas, dead bodies must be begged for burial costs and food donations before being buried, and he (dead) does not do this work alone. His family supports the dead, and on any street or market that passes, People give him money, so the dead collect their burial expenses.
Folding Girls' Feet
In China, girls' short and curved feet are considered a symbol of beauty; that's why young girls' feet are not too long. They were folded, and then for years, her feet remained folded. When a girl becomes an adult, this bandage is removed from her foot. This practice is adopted by girls from wealthy families, whereas in poor families, only the eldest girl's feet are tied like this. So he could be married to a rich man who would also help his family. Otherwise, those women who work hard cannot walk even one step with their tied feet. When a girl's feet become smaller and bend, they can wear a special shoe called lotus. It was banned in 1911 because it caused many losses of life.
Wedding With The Tree
In Hindu tradition, some people think that before the traditional marriage of a girl, she is married to a tree, and after marriage, the tree is cut down. People who follow it say that evil attacks do not affect a girl, and even if there is a harmful effect, it goes away after the tree is cut. The image shown above is pretended.