India is a place of many contrasts – as the cliche goes. It has a booming modern economy with a particular strength in IT, as well as ancient bustling markets which looked exactly the same five hundred years ago – minus the cellphones and DVDs.
Some Indians, fiercely embracing exactly the same modernity that those in the West take for granted, resent that their country is still known for its sacred cows and its bizarre rituals. Stereotypes can be difficult to swallow..But they shouldn’t resent this list: it reflects only one small and fascinating shade of the enormous, incredible, multi-faceted country that is India.
10. Fire-Walking
People from South India ‘celebrate’ the Theemithi festival by walking barefoot across a pit filled with burning hot firewood, or sometimes glowing charcoal. The fire walking is done in honour of the Hindu goddess Draupati Amman – so rather than hurrying across the pit, the devotees have to sdo it slowly, as though it’s a walk in the park.
The ritual begins when the head priest traverses the pit with a pot on his head, filled with sacred water. He is then followed by other men, who seek to prove their piety by withstanding the pain. Participants suffer from burns on their feet – and sometimes worse injuries, on the all-too-common occasions when they fall into the burning pit.
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