India is the land of festivals and rituals, and known for
huge diversity in all over the world. And this diversity contributes largely in the massive list of the festivals
of India. Among these festivals and retuals some got the place as the world’s most weird
and unique. So be ready to get amazed!
1. AGNI KHELI
Agni Kheli is a very weird festival you can say as it is the
game of fire. As the name shows its meaning in Hindi Agni is for fire and khel
is for game. It is celebrated every year in April in Mangalore, Karnataka. This
is the game for those who has no the fear of fire. The rules include two teams
throws fireballs and if someone catches fire, then he is rewarded with holy
water called 'Kumkumarchane'. Hundreds of bare-bodied devotees hurl flaming
palm fronds at each other. It is very interesting to getting only for that
reward every year people gather there. Those who suffer burns are then also
sprayed with water of the kumkumarchana.
It is very dangerous
but really spectacular to watch. Every Indian must witness Agni Kheli at least
once in his life.
2. JALLIKATTU
Jallikattu is the name of that sport or ritual practice
which makes amazed and frightened to all those who watch this. And if Bull-Fighting reminds you of Spanish
matadors, think again. A more rustic and dangerous form of the sport has been
played in India for over a century now. Jallikattu is an event held in Tamilnadu as
a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu pongal day.
Jallikattu bulls are raised wild and special care is taken to feed and exercise
them, so they develop into sturdy beasts fit for fighting. Hundreds of men
chase the bull, trying to snatch the prize from its horns.
Unlike Spanish
bull-fighting, the bull isn't killed in Jallikattu. It is the matador who is
left vulnerable, because he cannot carry weapons and the bulls' horns are
sharpened. Bull baiting was common among the ancient tribes who lived in the
‘Mullai’ geographical division of the ancient Tamil country. Later, it
became a platform for display of bravery and prize money was introduced for
participation encouragement. In the past two decades, over 200 people have died
indulging in this dangerous sport. In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India
banned Jallikattu.
3. LATH MAAR HOLI
Holi is the most common in India as it is the main festival of Hindus.
This festival known as the festival of colors and joy. But here in the Lath Mar
Holi, it is completely different from that. Because here in this type of Holi,
sticks also used for playing and for beating to the males. Yes! People in and
around Mathura start celebrating Holi way in advance and how! According to a
legend, Lord Krishna was chased out of Barsana by women using sticks because he
was teasing them, playfully, of course. Since then, men from neighbouring
places come to Barsana only to be chased away (red beaten up) by women holding
lathis for celebrating Holi. The devotional songs playing in the background
with people chanting Hare Krishna and the bhang/thandai totally add to the mood.
Most of the people comes here every year, only to watch the Lath Mar Holi.
4. NAG PANCHAMI
The Naag Panchami is known as the festival of snakes. India
shares a very old bond with snakes. These frightening beings have played a
prominent role throughout Indian Hindu mythology and folklore. This is the
symbolic creature of Lord Shiva in the earth, as he wears snake around his
neck. India is known to many still, as the Land of Snake
Charmers. Till date, the fifth day of the lunar month
of Shravan is celebrated as Nag Panchami across India and
Nepal. Live Cobras, without their venomous fangs removed, are worshipped! Priests
kumkum and flower petals on their raised hoods. Devotees feed them
milk and even rats. It is popularly believed that snakes do not bite
on Nag Panchami .
The craziest Nag Panchami celebrations take place in Baltis
Village, Maharashtra where people bring snakes to a temple and worship them.
The snakes are then offered milk and rats and set free.
5. THAIPOOSAM
Faith is a precious ray of light that pulls us out of
our inner darkness. The same faith, at times, takes on frightening proportions.
Sometimes the faith shows in a different way. Celebrated in Tamil Nadu and
parts of southern India during the Tamil month of Thai, Thaipoosam is
a festival that honours Lord Murugan (or Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and
Parvati) receiving a lance to destroy the evil army of Tarakasura. Following a
48 day fast, many devotees pierce their bodies with hooks, skewers and lances
called vel. Some even try pulling tractors or other heavy objects
with the hooks in their skin; others pierce their tongue and cheek to impede
speech and thereby attain full concentration on the Lord. They enter into
a trance during such piercing due to the incessant drumming and chanting. The
horrifying sight is definitely not for the faint of heart.
The motive of Thaipusam festival is to pray to God to
receive his grace so that bad traits are destroyed.
6. MADEY SNANA
Madey Snana, is a religious practice observed in some Hindu
temples of Karnataka.
Casteism has been one of India's oldest problems. While the
society has changed and condemns such unwarranted discrimination, many still
hold on to it. The Kukke Subramania Temple has a strange centuries old
tradition called Madey Snana or Spit Bath. Those from lower castes
roll on the floor over food leftovers of Brahmins on banana leaves, to rid
themselves of various ailments. This practice was banned in 2010, but it had to
be lifted in 2011 after protests by the Malekudiya tribe. The ritual has
been categorised as a blind belief in the proposed Karnataka Prevention of
Superstitious Practices Bill (2013) after progressive leaders and liberals in
the state upped their ante against the controversial practice.
It is believed that this ritual rids one of bad Karma,
skin diseases and other ailments
7. BABY TOSSING CEREMONY
The practice is believed to date back centuries and takes
place across India - involving both Hindus and Muslims. Around 200 babies are
dropped by their parents every year while crowds sing and dance. Most of the
infants are under two years old. The ritual takes place in the first week of
December, and is believed to bring health and luck to new arrivals.
Baby-throwing rituals have had worldwide attention since
August, when an Indian TV crew filmed footage of screaming infants being
dropped from a 50 foot temple tower in Haranga, a village in the West Indian
state of Maharashtra. Local campaigners managed to get the practice banned in
2011.
8. KESH LOHAN
Kesh lohan is not very popular amoung the all in India, but
in the Jain community. Most religions
consider Moksha or redemption as the ultimate end of all human endeavors.
Ignorance, according to Jains and Buddhists is what stands in the way. In many
texts, hair is often read as a metaphor for human illusion, attachment and
vanity. Upon their initiation, Jain monks and nuns renounce their worldly
attachments by painfully pulling out each strand of hair from their heads. The
wounds are then covered in dried cow dung ash to heal. This painful and weird
ritual is very famous among Jains, and they often do the same for hair
removing, but this type of practice gives a weird and painful experience to
spectators too.
9. AADI FESTIVAL
This is a very famous fastival in Tamilnadu. Every year, on
the 18 th day of the Tamil month of Aadi, thousands of devotee’s
flock the Mahalakshmi Temple, Mettu Mahadhanapuram, in the Karur District of
Tamil Nadu, to willingly allow the priest to smash coconuts on their heads for
good luck and health. As the story goes, 187 coconut shaped stones were dug out
at the location of the temple. During the Raj, the Britishers wanted to build a
railway track across the temple and villagers were against it. To test their
devotion, the British struck a deal: if they could break these stones on their
heads, the course of the railway line would be changed. The villagers succeeded
and the temple was saved. The tradition has been followed till date, despite
warnings by medical practitioners.
10.VARUNA YAJYA
In India rain plays a huge role in the life of commons and farmers.
And when it turns its back on us, many turn to the Rain God. Varun, and Indra
are the Hindu Gods of water & rain. The Varuna Yajna has been performed
across Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to appease him into bestowing
rains upon his people. So the performs a yajna or yagya.But here the method of
this practice is some different, the yajna is
performed by temple priests immersing themselves in barrels of water and
incanting Lord Varun's name one lakh times. This also one of the most weird method
of worship to God in the World.
