India is a country with diverse cultures and traditions. India, for people living in other countries is a land of snake charmers and elephant riders.
印度是一個擁有多種文化及傳統的國家，很多人認為，印度就代表著耍蛇人和騎大象。
While the enjoyable rituals are heartily welcome, the bizarre rituals are very tough to tolerate. But it’s hard to change the stubborn mentalities of some orthodox communities. Here is a glimpse of the few strange rituals being performed in India, as compiled by The wonderlist.
但是在印度現存的眾多習俗中，除了一些令人愉悅且廣受歡迎的，也還留有一些稀奇古怪的陋習令人難以忍受。想要改變這些傳統人群的頑固思想還真是很有難度。下面，咱們就來看看印度還有哪些陋習。
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Exorcism by Marriage:結婚驅魔
Women in India have to undergo lots of rituals throughout her life. Indians hugely believe in spirits and their supernatural powers. Superstitions prevail a lot here among the hearts and minds of people, be it educated or uneducated. They belief that, as per astrology, if some girl is born in some wrong 『muhurta』 or time, she possesses some evil spirit, that may cost the life of her future husband. She is called 『Mangalik』. People who believe this superstition deny marrying a mangalik girl.
印度人超級迷信。無論是接受過教育的還是文盲，大家都在精神上和心理上對迷信深信不疑。印度的婦女一輩子要經歷無數儀式。據佔星術推斷，如果一位女孩兒生的時辰不對，那麼她就一定被惡靈附體了，這會剋死她未來的丈夫。人們把這種女孩稱為「Mangalik」，無人敢娶。
?As a solution to this, the mangalik girl is first married to a tree or an animal, in most of the cases a dog. Some people even perform this ritual with girls born with some deformities, cleft lip or tooth; because they are believed to be the symbol of possessing some evil spirit.
那麼怎麼破？「mangalik」女孩兒首先得嫁給一顆大樹或者一隻動物，大多數情況下她得嫁給一隻狗。此外，一些人還認為，如果一個女孩生來有缺陷，比如兔唇或者齒裂也得遭受這一待遇，因為她們也是惡靈的代言人。
Arranged Marriage:包辦婚姻
Arranged marriage is an ancient custom in which parents decide the life partner for their son or daughter. The world is no more following the tradition, but India is. It’s really hard to believe that here every one except the groom and bride looks for perfect matches, be it parents or distant relative, or even sometimes neighbors. The groom though has a scope to say a word, but the girl; she is bound to do what she is ordered. This custom is very stupid as it risks the entire life of two people. An uncertainty prevails that they may not get adjusted in their married life。
包辦婚姻這個傳統可謂歷史悠久，在包辦婚姻裡孩子的婚姻由父母說了算。全世界都拋棄這項陋習了，只有印度還在苦苦堅守。很難相信，一樁婚姻裡，新郎、新娘都像局外人，但是他們的父母、親戚甚至毫不相干的鄰居都覺得他們很般配。新郎好歹還有點發言權，可是新娘就只能逆來順受了。這項習俗簡直就愚蠢之極，因為這是在拿兩個人的一生的幸福開玩笑，極有可能兩個人一輩子不能習慣對方的存在。
Dowry : 嫁妝
Dowry is the worst part of any arranged marriage. In India, at most of the places, women are supposed to carry dowry from their father’s home. Dowry includes heavy furniture, jewelries, cash, cars or motor bikes or in some cases properties. This ritual of taking dowry doesn’t end after the wedding ritual. It continues. The greedy family of the groom, at some places, tortures the bride for more and more dowry. The helpless parents of the girl surrender to their demands under so much of pressure. Newspapers contain the news of dowry killing every now and then. Brides are being tortured, burnt and killed for cash and jewelries. Sometimes the parents of the bride commit suicide seeing the pathetic condition of their daughter.
而在包辦婚姻中，嫁妝又是最可惡的。在印度的大多數地方，女孩兒出嫁要帶嫁妝。嫁妝包括沉重的家具、珠寶、現金、汽車或者摩託車，甚至是房產。但是婚禮結束了，嫁妝也還沒有結束。一些地方的新郎家還會貪婪的折磨新娘，以索取更多嫁妝。無奈的嶽父嶽母在重壓之下也只能答應女婿的要求。新聞上經常報導一些因為嫁妝殺人的新聞。新娘們被折磨、燒傷甚至謀殺就為了要錢和珠寶。有時候，新娘的父親看到女兒的悲慘境地竟會無奈自殺。
Child Marriage:童婚
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Child marriage is a curse to India’s children. Although it was banned in India in 1929, but still in some rural places in India the practice of child marriage is a big problem. In India the legal age for women to get married is 18, and that for man is 21. In rural India people still believe in child marriage that kills all the scope of the kids to grow independently and successfully. Both the kids getting married have to undergo a lot of troubles as they grow up adjusting with each other and of course in pursuing their dreams. Small boys and girls are loaded with huge responsibilities that are too heavy for their tender shoulders.
童婚簡直就是對印度兒童的一種詛咒。儘管1929年印度政府就禁止兒童結婚了，但是在一些農村，童婚仍然存在。印度的法定結婚年齡是女子18歲，男子21歲。但是，印度的一部分村野地區還是進行童婚，致使無數孩子不能獨立、健康的成長。結婚的兩個孩子都必須衝破重重困難適應對方，追逐夢想。小小年紀就要承擔他們那個年紀本不該承擔的沉重責任。
Most shockingly at some places the girl is a kid, but the groom is a middle aged person. You can very well imagine the plight upon that small kid.
更令人髮指是，一些地方，新娘是個孩子，而新郎卻是個中年老男人。真是無法想像那孩子的悲慘境遇。
Female Foeticide/ Infanticide:墮女胎
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Like all the above abnormal rituals, this custom too concerns women, in this case a girl child. With the growing tradition of giving dowry, women related crimes and of course of backward mentality, a girl child is kind of a burden to the families in some places. Female foeticide is the act of killing a fetus inside the womb of the mother. People now-a-days first of all check the sex of the fetus and if it’s a girl child, they destroy it. It is really shameful that the country which itself is personalized as a motherland has to witness such heinous crimes. ?Determining the sex of the child before its birth is banned in India, as that costs the life of many girl children and their mothers. But in spite of that people are committing the crime illegally with the help of some immoral doctors and thus increasing the rate of female Foeticide every day. It is really shameful to mention that some people even kill the girl after her birth by either burying her alive or drowning her.
這項陋習也是關於女孩兒的，只不過這次是胎兒。隨著嫁妝的盛行，人們越來越把女性和犯罪及思想落後關聯在一起。所以很多家庭把女孩兒當做一種負擔。現在，一旦老婆懷孕，老公就馬上去超是男是女，一旦發現是女孩兒，就馬上做掉。真是難以想像一個把自己稱為母國的國家居然要目睹這樣的十惡不赦的罪行。實際上，在印度做B超檢測胎兒性別是違法的，因為這樣傷害過很多女孩兒和孕婦的生命。但是就是有一些無德的醫生在和患者進行著非法的交易，從而助長了墮女胎的風氣。更可氣的是，居然還有父母把女孩兒生下來活埋或者溺死的。
Baby Dropping:高空扔孩子
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This ritual of dropping a baby is highly performed by Muslims and now even by Hindus. This is one of the most shocking and horrifying ritual, where a baby of merely 2 years age is dropped from a height of 50 feet tower. It is believed that the person to catch the baby gets lucky. Those who look forward to have a baby, participate in this ritual. It also believed to bring luck for the baby dropped. In Baba Umer Dargah, Maharashtra and Sri Santeshwar Temple, Karnataka this ritual is being continued for about 700 years. The national commission for the protection of child rights is planning to put an end to such a dangerous custom.
在印度，穆斯林和印度教徒尤為喜歡高空扔孩子。這簡直是最驚恐的習俗之一。把一個只有2歲的孩子從50英尺高的地方扔下去，就因為人們認為誰接住他誰就會走運。而那些希望懷孕的人也會去參加這項儀式。而且，人們認為把孩子扔下去的人也會走運。在印度的一些城市，這一習俗居然持續了有700多年。不過，印度保護兒童權益委員會已經採取行動欲結束這一陋習。
Kesh Lochan:薅頭髮
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Indian beliefs are so full of superstition that people sacrifice their hair to god, in order to pay tribute or say thanks to God. God is believed to be happy with a heap of hair every day. Jains have beaten the Hindus in this ritual. They even donate their hair to god, but they get it plucked. Yes! You heard it right. They get all their hair plucked and dedicate it to Gods. They do it on yearly basis to give the lesson of enduring pain.
印度人很迷信，他們願意把頭髮敬獻上帝。而且，他們相信，每天都向上帝進獻一些頭髮，上帝會很開心。在這一習俗上，耆那教教徒比印度教徒有過之而無不及。他們會把頭發生生薅下來獻給上帝。是的，你聽的沒錯！他們就是把頭髮一根根薅下來，然後獻給上帝。他們每年做一次，不過做過之後也要忍受持久的疼痛。
Self Flagellation: ?自我鞭笞
Self Flagellation is horrifying ritual performed not only in India, but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh during the occasion of Muharram. Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar which marks the anniversary of the battle of Karbala, during which the prophet’s grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali, was killed along with 72 other warriors. To mourn that incident Shi』a Muslims participate in this event and hurt themselves with chains and swords. The chains are attached with razors that cut the naked bodies of the participants. This the way they mourn for the martyrs. During this event of pain, soaked with blood they keep chanting the name of 『Hussein』.
印度人、巴基斯坦人和孟加拉人都會在穆哈蘭姆月進行自我鞭笞。穆哈蘭姆月是伊斯蘭日曆上的第一個月，用來紀念卡爾巴拉戰鬥。在這場戰鬥中，先知的孫子同其它72為戰士為真理而犧牲。為了紀念這場戰鬥，什葉派穆斯林就會在儀式中用鎖鏈和劍傷害自己。他們會在鎖鏈上安剃刀，以此割傷他們的裸露的肉身，一邊流血，一邊高喊『海珊』。這就是他們用來悼念殉道者的方式。
Timiti/ Walking On Fire:火上爆走
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This ritual is performed in the month of October and November to pay tribute to legendary women like Draupadi and Sita from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana respectively.? Centuries back, both Sita and Draupadi had to walk on fire in order to prove their purity as women and they came out as fresh as flower. In Timiti, the priest begins the ceremony and male devotees follow him and walk over a pit full of hot burning woods with a water filled pot on his head. The devotees may be both Hindus and non-Hindus.
這個儀式是在每年的十月和十一月舉行，目的是為了向來自於史詩《馬哈帕臘達》和《羅摩衍那》的女神Draupadi和Sita致敬。幾百年前，這兩位女神為了證明自己作為女人的清白從火上走過，據傳，她們從火上下來，美豔的如花朵一樣。在提米提，舉行這一儀式時，祭師會帶領信徒光腳頂著一個水壇走過火堆。這裡的信徒可以印度教徒也可以是非印度教徒。
Cannibalism:食人
Aghori Sadhus in India are most weird monks among all others. They are mostly found in Varanasi. They worship Lord Shiva. Aghori Sadhus are well known for their post mortem rituals. They roam around the cremation ground and smear their bodies with ashes of the cremated bodies. They know no taboos or boundaries. Unlike the other monks they consume meat, sometimes from the dead corpses. These cannibalistic monks even get involved in sexual practices with the dead bodies. They use human bones for making bowls and jewelries. They are believed to be the masters of Dark Magic, which is the most dangerous ritual in India.
印度的Aghori Sadhus是僧人中最為奇怪的一些人。他們主要集中在瓦拉納西，信奉溼婆。Aghori Sadhus以進行一些死後祭祀儀式而聞名。他們在火葬場四處遊蕩，把死人骨灰抹在自己身上。他們沒有任何禁忌和界限，食肉，而且吃死屍的肉。這些古怪的僧人還會強姦死屍。他們用死人骨頭做碗吃飯，做珠寶佩戴。黑暗魔法是印度最危險的東西，而他們被認為是黑暗魔法的主人。
小編有話說：重男輕女，歧視女性的那些陋習真是令人髮指，不要女兒，虐待媳婦兒，不知道他們是否還尊重母親。不尊重倒也有個行為一致性在裡面，萬一尊重，不知如何解釋？愚蠢行為真是害人害己。另外，喜歡看《盜墓筆記》《鬼吹燈》等小說的朋友們注意了，溼婆，你是不是很熟悉呀，這種邪惡的東西原來是來自於「黑暗魔法」呢……