DIVERSITY

All around the world, there are some customs that fascinate us, let’s see some of them…

Food Binding

For about a thousand years, young Chinese girls had to undergo the painful and debilitating process of foot binding. Girls between the ages of three and fourteen had their feet broken and bound with bandages, in order to prevent their feet from growing “too big”.

FEMALE CIRCUMCISIONSomalia

Somali girls go through the process of female circumcision after they are born. This traditional practice is embedded deep within Somali culture, and the belief is widely held that it is necessary to “cleanse” a girl child. In some communities, girls cannot be married without it.

Circumcision

The Sati Culture in India

Sati is an ancient culture where a woman would burn herself on her dead husband’s funeral fire. It was considered an honorable act and the widow was believed to enter straight into heaven, as a reward for her sacrifice.

The act was banned by the British Government, but in the late 1980s, an instance was reported. Another case was also reported in 2002.

Sky burial

Tibetan sky burial Sky burial was a funerary

practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is placed on a mountain top, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey.

In Tibet the practice is known as jhator which literally means, "giving alms to the birds."

The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may let it decompose. So the function of the sky burial is simply the disposal of the remains.

The hanging coffins

Hanging coffins are coffins which have been placed on cliffs. They can be found in various locations, including China, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Madagascar Burial Once the dead person is brought

to their tomb and buried, a commemorative statue is put up for them there. The sacrifice of one or several zebu accompanies the ceremony accompanied by songs and dance. The ceremony ends with a party during which the sacrificed zebu meat is shared out between all those present. The size of this ceremony depends on the wealth of the person who died and sometimes herds of ten, even hundreds of zebu which are sacrificed.

Mozambique

When a woman’s husband died, she is force to marry his brother in-law or any male relatives of her husband because she is considered a property of the family.

In Peru…In some tribes of this country, they eat the corpses of dead men.

Among this strange customs, there are some of them which are really funny

MORE ODD TRADITIONS

Thai people

In Thailand it is a grave insult to walk into a person's house with shoes on. Shoes are discarded at the front door. Not a silly idea really for one leaves all the litter of the streets outside where it belongs

Indonesia

Burping It is not considered

impolite to burp, and can even be regarded as a sign of appreciation of a good meal, therefore Indonesians generally do not excuse themselves after burping.

Monkey Buffet Festival

No, this isn’t a festival that offers a variety of all-you-can-eat monkey dishes. Rather, the monkeys are the ones doing the feasting at this annual event in Thailand. Over 3,000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables are offered to the monkey population of the Lopburi province in Bangkok.

Camel Wrestling

A kinder, gentler version of bullfighting? Perhaps. In Turkey, camel wrestling is a popular event where spectators watch in glee as two specially bred male camels wrestle each other. Serious injuries are rare, but spectators should be wary of being sprayed by the milky saliva of the agitated camels.

Guam men’s job

There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time. Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.

World-wide championship of wife rise (Sonkajärvi, Finland)

Each 4 of July are celebrated in this small Finnish locality the world-wide championship of wife rise (any woman elder than 17 years is worth like `wife'). This ‘sport’ remind the Viking tradition about taking the wife of the fellow by loading her to his back. Whether the wife falls down on the ground when depositing her, there is a penalty. At the moment, the Estonians show with pride the world-wide title.