Dancing with the dead.
A funeral tradition followed by the Malagasy tribe in Madagascar, people literally dance with dead bodies as part of the ‘Famadihana’ custom. After bringing the bodies of ancestors from their burial place, they re-wrap them in fresh cloth and dance around the tomb to live music. The ritual is followed once in seven years but has been in the decline of late.
Monkey Buffet Festival.
As the name suggests, this is a buffet for monkeys. Monkeys feast at this annual event in Thailand where over 3,000 kgs of fruits and vegetables are on display for the monkeys to gorge on in Lopburi, Bangkok.
Feed the dead with wine in Rome
Romans believe in feeding the dead. The graves contain pipes through which the kin of the deceased can pour honey, wine and other food items into their grave in the Roman burial grounds.
Eating the dead’s ash in Venezuela and Brazil
Sure, one misses their loved one’s when they pass away, but eating their ash to remember them forever? A little far-fetched, isn’t it? That is exactly what the Yonamamo tribe from Brazil and Venezuela does. Since tradition forbids them from keeping any body part, it is burned and crushed, and the remains are divided amongst the family members and consumed by all.
Finger cutting when someone dies in Indonesia
This tradition in the Dani tribe in Indonesia takes bizarre to a whole new level. When a family member passes away, women from this tribe have to suffer physical pain besides suffering from emotional grief. And to do so, they cut off a part of their fingers. This is supposedly done to ‘satisfy ancestral ghosts.’ Whatever that means. I wonder why do men not follow this custom? For sanity’s sake, this custom is rarely practiced now.
Have you ever heard of this before?
The Yao Where Men are married.
The Yao Here is a tribe in Africa where men are married and once married, they are to leave their respective homes to go and stay with their wives at their wives ‘ homes after a ceremony.
So, villages are composed basically of groups of women related through the female line.
Cleansing Of the dead
In Indonesia a community exhume dead bodies of their relatives to cleanse and dress them again after three years. This is accmpanied by a party where people drink and dance.
Carrying pregnant wife over burning coal in China
In China, it is believed that if the husband carries his pregnant wife over burning coal with bare feet, the wife has an easy delivery. So, physical pain for the husband to ease out the wife’s labour? What kind of a tradition is this?
Eating the baby’s placenta
In some countries, mothers eat their own placenta after giving birth to take in other nutrients that the placenta is known to have. This tradition is followed in China, Jamaica, and some parts of India.
The festival of piercings
This ritual is performed on the 12th or 13th day of birth or when the child turns 6 or 7 months old or in the 5th or 7th year in India.
