Devotees Allow Themselves to Be Trampled by Cattle in Bizarre Ritual
As part of a post-Diwali celebration in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhidavad village, brave men lie on the ground and allow themselves to be trampled by dozens of cattle in the name of religion. The festival of Diwali is marked with various rituals and traditions across India, but none quite as bizarre as the custom of one […]
Bodi, the African Tribe Where Men Compete in a Fattening Contest
The Bodi tribe of southern Ethiopia holds a yearly festival in which the man with the biggest belly is honored and celebrated. To prepare for this big event, the men go on a grueling six-month fattening journey. Obesity and big bellies are usually seen as banes of modern life that not only have a negative […]
Japan’s Unique Hole-in-One Golf Insurance Policy
Hitting a hole-in-one is one of the greatest things that can happen to a golf player, but in Japan, such a lucky shot can lead to such an expensive celebration that insurers actually sell hole-in-one insurance policies to mitigate the ‘risk’. The average golfer has 1 in 12,500 chances of hitting a hole-in-one, while professional […]
The Tiny Russian Village Where Everyone Knows How to Walk a Tightrope
Tsovkra-1, a small village in the mountains of Russia’s Dagestan autonomous republic, is famous for being the only place in the world where the entire able-bodied population knows how to walk a tightrope. No one knows exactly how the tightrope-walking tradition of Tsovkra-1 (named ‘1’ because of another Tsvokra village nearby) began, but one thing […]
Ubang, the Nigerian Village Where Men and Women Speak Different Languages
They say women are from Venus and men are from Mars, and nowhere is that more evident than in Ubang, a unique Nigerian rural community where men and women have their own separate languages. It’s hard to believe that men and women who grow up together in the same community can end up speaking different […]
Traditional Stone-Pelting Battle Leaves 77 People Injured in Just 7 Minutes
Every year, hundreds of people from India’s Uttarakhand state engage in Bagwal, a brutal stone-pelting battle that often leaves dozens with severe injuries that require medical attention. Bagwal literally means “fight with stones”, so it’s a pretty fitting name for a celebration that’s all about hurling big stones at the opposing side. Four clans gather […]
“Rice Babies” Help Japanese Parents of Newborns to Respect Social Distancing Rules
Japanese parents are sending bags of rice that weigh as much as their babies to relatives who can’t visit them because of the Covid-19 pandemic. As is customary in many cultures around the world, when a Japanese couple welcomes a baby into the world, relatives come to visit the family and celebrate, but because of […]
Traditional Saudi War Dance Gives ‘Jumping the Gun’ a Literal Meaning
Taasheer is a traditional war dance performed by Saudi men and boys which involves spectacular, well-timed leaps that synchronize with the dramatic discharge of long muzzle-loading rifles. Once performed before battle to motivate fighters and instill fear in the heart of the enemy, Taasheer is now performed at important social events, like weddings and festivals. […]
In This New Zealand Town, Easter Is All About Wiping Out Bunnies
In Christian countries around the world, the Easter Bunny is a beloved symbol of one of the world’s most popular holidays, but in one New Zealand town, bunnies are such a plague for farmers that locals spend Easter wiping them out. In New Zealand, rabbits are an introduced species that threatens both the country’s biodiversity […]
Gangina – The Afghan Way of Keeping Grapes Fresh For Up to Six Months
Gangina is a traditional means of keeping grapes and other fruits fresh for several months, by sealing them in air-tight containers made of wet soil. Grapes are tricky to keep fresh for long periods of time, even when refrigeration is available, but apparently Afghans have long been using an ancient method of keeping the soft […]
Microfishing – When the Tiniest Fish Becomes the Biggest Catch
Catching fish as small as a penny would be nothing short of embarrassing for the average fisherman, but in Japan it’s a source of pride, as in the old art of Tanago Fishing, the smaller the fish is, the bigger a catch it represents. Most fishermen believe that the bigger the fish they catch, the […]
Daisugi – Ancient Forestry Technique Produces Plenty of Lumber From a Single Tree
Daisugi is a centuries-old forestry technique developed in Japan as a way of cultivating the highly-prized Kitayama Cedar without actually using any land. Today, the visually-striking technique can be witnessed in ornamental gardens. Dating back to the 14th century, daisugi allowed for the cultivation of Kitayama cedar, a species of tree known for growing exceptionally […]
Chechen Man Forced to Issue Public Apology for Crying at Sister’s Wedding
Chechen men are considered some of the most masculine in the world, and this is an image that authorities are keen to maintain, so anything that threatens to damage that hard-earned image of fearlessness is frowned upon. A young man recently learned that first-hand, after crying at his sister’s wedding. According to historian Zelimkhan Musaev […]
The Flogsta Scream – Screaming into the Night to Relieve Stress
For decades, students living in the Flogsta neighborhood of Uppsala, in Sweden, have been engaging in a unique tradition that has come to be known around the world as the “Flogsta Scream”. Every night, at 10 pm, they open their dorm room windows and scream out into the night as a way to relieve stress. […]
Bambooze – Chinese Liquor Matured in Living Bamboo Trunks
Bamboo was already one of the most versatile resources available to man, but villages in various parts of China have come up with yet another use for the giant grass – living casks for maturing liquor. Villagers and liquor producers in several Chinese provinces have come up with a way of using living bamboo trunks […]