Cultures all over the world have unique traditions. While some are distinctively charming in some way, others are downright bizarre. From living with the dead loved ones to throwing babies from the rooftop.
Here’s a list of just 6 of the weirdest cultural practices from around the globe that are still carried out today:
1. Living With the Dead in Indonesia
In the mountainous villages of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Torajan people have been living with the dead for centuries. This tradition has been carried until now.
According to their belief, in order for their dead loved ones to reach the afterlife known as “Puya” or “The Land of Souls”, their corpses must be returned to the place of their birth for burial. This journey from death to ritual takes a long time and even years.
2. Baby Jumping (El Colacho) in Spain
Baby jumping or “El Colacho” in Spain is a traditional Spanish festival. It takes place annually to celebrate the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi in Castrillo de Murcia, a village in the municipality of Sasamón in the province of Burgos
The residents have been taking part in this dangerous and weird culture since 1620. They believe that El Colacho keeps the devils and bad luck away. During this festival, infants are laid on the mattresses in the street and the jumpers wear traditional costumes to look like the Devils.
3. Hanging Coffins in China
In the mountains of China’s Sichuan Province is the sight of hundreds of ancient wooden coffins hanging precariously from a cliff face. Some experts believe the dead were placed there thousands of years ago to be within reach of the gods, while others say it was to keep them away from wild animals.
Coffins are generally hung 33 to 164 feet high and some even as high as 328 feet above the ground. It is still not known for sure how the coffins were placed at such great heights. Records of hanging coffins date back almost 2000 years.
4. Baby Tossing in India
Baby Tossing is in certain parts of India where infants under the age of 2 years, are shaken by the priest and then dropped from a 30 to 50 feet shrine or mosque. While its origins of it are not known clearly, this ritual is now celebrated in the first week of December.
It is practiced by Hindus and Muslims in rural regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka states in India. Example: Baba Umer Dargah and Digambareshwara Temple in Nagrala village. Every year two hundred families participate and over two hundred infants are tossed from a height.
5. Carrying Women On Burning Coals
In China, once a woman conceives, the father-to-be carries his pregnant wife over amber-colored, burning coal.
It is said that if the father successfully does this, the mother is believed to have a smooth and less painful labor. The men do this painful ritual because the mother of the child during the pregnancy has 9 months of raging hormones, and pain, they do not think that they should have an easy journey either.
6. Mourning of Muharram
Every year Muslims from around the world hold religious mourning ceremonies for the third Shia Imam who achieved martyrdom in the desert of Karbala in 680 AD.
On this day, a number of groups consisting of Shia Muslims go out with whips attached to knives and blades and start beating them up unstoppably. This tradition has been passed over to their descendants from generations
