Trifter

Living with Cobras

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Shetpal is a small village in Sholapur, Maharashtra. It is popularly known as cobra village as each house has a resting place for cobras in a raft of their ceilings. Another interesting thing is there has been no case of a cobra-bite in that village till date though cobras live inside the house daily.

Devadasi System

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This is the ugliest practice in which girls are married and dedicated to a deity after which they are sexually exploited and forced to lead their life as prostitutes. Jogamma, Yellamma and Holiyamma are some other names of this system. Though the agitations and movements of many social reformers have deteriorated this system, it is still prevalent in 14 districts of Andhra Pradesh, 5 districts of Karnataka and 10 districts of Maharashtra.

Dropping babies from a Tower

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Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah temple is situated in Musti village in Sholapur, Maharashtra. Here a bizarre tradition is followed by people for over 500 years. They throw their infant babies off a tower of 50 ft height which is believed to be the blessing for their baby. Many local people claimed that the babies are not harmed.

Worshipping Bats

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The people of Kalyanpur in Vaishali, Bihar worship bats as God.  They protect these animals as well as offer food to them. They believe that their village is out of danger as long as the bats stay with them.

Piercing the skin, tongue etc. during Festivals

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Piercing the skin, tongue, chest etc. is common during some festivals. Thai Pusam festival is one of those festivals. It is celebrated in Palani, Tamil Nadu in the Tamil month of Thai (that is January/February). On that day Vel Kavadi, a portable altar  (adorned with feathers of peacock) of two meters tall is attached to the devotee’s body through 108 vels pierced into the skin on the chest and at the back. Surprisingly they don’t have any pain nor do they have any scars that left behind. They do not even bleed from their wounds. Some devotees have little spears through their tongues. Fire walking is also a common practice in this festival.

Wrapping Pot of Venom/Snakes on their necks

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The Santhal tribes in Bihar baptize their young girls as Visha kanya i.e. girl with poison. They wrap pots of venom and a nail on their necks to avoid the attacks on them by offenders. In Bengal some people wrap snakes around their bodies without any fear.

Death comes if Lizard falls on head

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Many people believe that death occurs if a lizard falls on the head. To avoid the death he has two options; one is touching the idol of gold and silver lizard in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, and another is to touch the person who has touched the idols of lizards.

Marrying to Dogs

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Some tribes in eastern India believe marrying a dog could prevent the coming evils and bring good luck.

Performing Marriages Between Trees

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Many people believe that the marriage between the Indian Lilac (Neem) and the Sacred Fig (Pipal) trees redeem their sins (it is very good if the trees are grown near each other). The new moon day is considered as the auspicious day for their marriage. The marriage is done by placing the fruit of Indian Lilac tree on a leaf of Sacred Fig as the fruit of Indian Lilac represents the male and the leaf of Sacred Fig represents the female. After that people circle the trees for  blessings.

Digambara Cult

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The followers of Mahavira in Jainism are called Digambaras. These are living in the communities of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. They wear no clothes as they treat it is a comfort to body and enhances the desire for material things. They wear a peacock feather and water gourd only.

Disclaimer

This article is not meant for hurting the feelings of anybody and written for informative purpose only.