10 Strange Religious Rituals That Will Shock You

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Religious rituals are supposed to be sombre and thought provoking. But sometimes they are also funny or rather extreme. There are many strange religious rituals that can actually be really shocking. These strange religious practices around the world are still rampant and people actually believe in them. Imagine someone throwing their own newborn baby from 7000 ft! Or some people walking in fire because they love god! These bizarre religious rituals are still practiced and people believe in them too.

These strange religious rituals can sometimes be funny. For example, wearing specially designed undergarments like the Mormons. But at other times these strange religious practices around the world can be very shocking as well. For instance, could you feed the rotting flesh of your dead to the crows? Some special communities do that!

BIZARRE FOODS THAT ARE EATEN IN INDIA

When we look at India, we think that blind faith and religious fanaticism exists only in our complex nation. But that is not strictly speaking true. It is true that weird religious rituals in Indian are rampant. However, some of these strange religious rituals are also found in the most modern first world countries.

Here are some of the most shocking religious rituals around the world.

Mormon Undergarments

The Mormon Church has many strange practices. One of them is wearing specially designed undergarments that protect them against evil spirits. In the middle ages, these undergarments were metal and protected against arrows or physical attacks.

Sky Burial

The Zoroastrians (Parsis) believe that even their dead should be useful to someone. That is why they carry the dead bodies uphill to a place and leave them there for scavengers to feed on. In Mumbai, there are the Towers Of Silence where the Paris leave their dead.

Jewish Kaparot Exorcism

This is a Jewish practice in which the evil spirits in a person's body are transferred into a chicken and then the chicken sacrificed by cutting off its head! This is a kind of exorcism that is widely popular in the Jewish community.

Baptism Of The Dead

In the resurrected Church of Jesus Christ or rather the Mormon Church, a dead person can be baptised if such a person has died without being baptised. A living person sits as the proxy of the dead person who has to be baptised.

The Naked Monks or Naga Sanyasis

Some Hindu monks have taken the vow of nudity. They torture their bodies by staying naked in the biting cold of the Himalayan Mountains. The come down from the mountains only during the Kumbh mela that happens every four years when they are allowed to bathe first in the Ganges river. They are feared because they carry arms with them.

Baby Jumping

At El Colacho, a Spanish village, the feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated very dangerously. On this day, the Catholic priest blesses the babies born that year and a man dressed as the Devil jumps over these babies.

Day Of The Dead

In Mexico, on the Day of the Dead, people visit the graves of their loved ones. They also clean up the graves and have a picnic in the graveyard. Sometimes, it becomes comical as they recall funny incidents from the life of the dead person. This was shown very well in legendary movie ‘Volver' by Pedro Almodovar.

Snana or Bathing In Leftover Food

In some temples in Karnataka, the Brahmins (upper caste priests) are served food in banana leaves. Then people who have skin diseases roll in the leftover food that has become holy by coming in contact with the Brahmins!

Metre Of Spirituality

The Church of Scientology believes that a gadget, which looks like an E-metre, can be used to measure the electronic field around a person and can help to decide whether that person has spiritual baggage.

No Blood Transfusion

In the religion of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the first rule is that you cannot take blood transfusions from any person even in case of medical emergencies!