Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Villagers take part in body piercing ritual to cure chicken pox

Villagers in Madhya Pradesh, India, recently performed an age-old tradition of body piercing to cure chicken pox.



Chicken pox is a highly contagious disease caused by infection with Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) which results in skin blisters. The ritual is performed every year on the occasion of ‘Hanuman Jayanti', which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Hanuman.



Villagers in Betul district pierced thread on the “Chaitra Poornima”, observed on the full moon day in the month of Chaitra as per the Hindu almanac that usually falls in the months of late March or early April.


YouTube link.

Villager Roop Rao said that this ritual is performed with pomp by the villagers to prevent their family from diseases. Bare-bodied men danced to mark the ritual in the presence of elderly members of the village.

2 comments:

shak said...

Or they could just get a vaccine. A lot less trouble and pain.

Ratz said...

The dark ages are alive and well in some parts of the world.