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India is like an encyclopedia filled with amazing facts and details. Once you start reading it, you just cannot put it down. No matter how technically advanced we may become, we Indians have a problem of letting our hearts rule our heads at times. In the same context, there are some rituals in India that go beyond the imagination of a Westerner, but everything said and done, they do exist. Some of them have been around for centuries.
Bani Festival
State: Andhra Pradesh
The festival is held at the Devaragattu Temple in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. In this festival, men from the states of Karnataka and Andhra hit at each others heads with wooden sticks. Loads of men get wounded and hurt, but the celebrations go on every year.
Feeding of snakes on Nag Panchami
In the Shravan month, snakes are worshipped in Nepal and India, on the fifth day. People worship cobras whose fangs have been removed and offer them milk. They believe that snakes do not bite on this day.
Puli Kali
State: Kerala
You have to see this spectacle at least once in your lifetime. Artists dressed and painted as tigers dance traditionally on the fourth day of Onam.
Pushkar Fair
State: Rajasthan
It is the biggest cattle fair in the world and occurs in November every year. You will see the best dressed and groomed camels in this place. There is lots of singing, dancing and magic too.
Fire Walking
State: Tamil Nadu
In this festival, which is also celebrated in South Africa, devotees are required to walk on a bed of burning coal. The legend dates back to the Mahabharata, where Draupadi had done the same.
