#7 Tossing Babies, India
Every place has its own culture which prescribes certain customs and traditions that, in turn, add to the uniqueness of that particular culture. While there are differences in sensibilities and what each culture considers normal or weird, there are seven traditions practised around the world that are just plain creepy, universally.
The title may sound like the start of a really bad dead-baby joke but that isn't all there is to it. This tradition has been celebrated for over 500 years. It involves throwing a baby off of a 50ft high temple and catching them with a cloth. This ritual is practised by couples who are blessed with a child after a visit to the Sri Santeswar temple.
#6 Bullet Ant Gloves
This is a very painful initiation ritual practised by young boys the Satere-Mawe tribe of the Amazon. The boys must partake in this ritual in order to prove that they've become men. This coming-of-age ceremony requires them to put on gloves filled with bullet ants, named as such because they sting as much as a bullet, and then dance for about ten minutes. It is only after they perform this ritual 20 times that they will have proven their manhood.
#5 Thaipusam festival piercings
Believe it or not, people actually pierce their bodies all over during the festival of Thaipusam as a sign of devotion to Lord Murugan and to celebrate his victory over Soorapadman, a vengeful spirit.
#4 Tidong Bathroom Ban
This Indonesian custom is perhaps the weirdest wedding tradition you may have come across. In Tidong, when a couple is getting married, the bride and groom aren't allowed to use the bathroom for three days and nights after the wedding. In fact, the couple is watched over by people around them and they are given limited amounts to eat and drink.
#3 Last Rites in Yanomami
In a bid to keep the spirit alive even after the body dies, the Yanomami burn the body of the deceased after which the ash is mixed into a plantain soup and drunk by a member of the deceased person's family.
#2 Hunting at Night in Bhutan
In the eastern parts of the Himalayan kingdom, this ritual is called Bomena wherein young men go out in search for love and break into houses of eligible young women. They have to spend the night there without getting caught. If they do get caught they must marry the girl.
#1 Tooth filling in Bali
In preparation of getting married, Balinese women get their teeth filled in. This practise symbolizes control over emotions like anger, lust, greed and jealousy.
