The Mari Lwyd (Wales)

Welsh people have always had a reputation for

being a little bit out there and that is certainly a
reputation enhanced by this strange Christmas
tradition. The Mari Lwyd is the name given to a
decorated horse’s skull. Yes, it’s as petrifying as
it sounds. As if a solitary decorated horse’s skull
wasn’t terrifying enough, the skull is placed
upon a broomstick and covered in a sheet with
bells hanging from its skull. The sinister figure is
then taken door-to-door as a gesture of
challenging groups to a singing contest. It is a
tradition traced back to the 19th century but
nobody dares ask how it actually started.
La Tomatina (Spain)
Spain has a lot of interesting traditions such as siestas
and the Pamplona bull run. However, one of the more
chaotic traditions comes in the form of La Tomatina. This
is when the people of Valencia participate in a mass
tomato throwing fight in Bunol. Picture snowball fights
except replace the snowballs with tomatoes. Usually, the
fight lasts for about one hour, after which the town square
is covered with tomato debris. Fire trucks then hose down
the streets and participants often use hoses that locals
provide to remove the tomatoes from their bodies. Some
participants go to the Los Peñones pool to wash. The
citric acid in the tomatoes leads to the washed surfaces
in the town becoming very clean.
Since 2013 participation in the event has been restricted
to the holders of paid tickets. In 2015, it was estimated
that almost 145,000 kg (320,000 lb) of tomatoes were
thrown.
Teeth-Tossing (Greece)
Losing teeth as a child is all part of the
growing up process. Hiding that tooth
under the pillow before bed and
waking up to find it replaced by money
from the tooth fairy is tradition in many
cultures across the world. Not in
Greece. Clearly, the financial crisis of
2008 hit Greek homes hard because
instead of exchanging the teeth for
money, children are encouraged to
throw to teeth onto the roof of the
house.
Red Ink Ban (South Korea)
One of the creepiest traditions comes from
South Korea where writing a person’s name
in red ink is generally not seen as
acceptable. The reason for this being that
the color red was often used to write
somebody’s name when they had died. So it
is felt that by writing a person’s name in red
you are condemning them to their own fate.
Luckily, that tradition isn’t in place in western
countries because otherwise school kids
would have a field day freaking out their
class mates by repeatedly scribbling their
names in red ink on their school books.
Polterabend in (Germany)
Polterabend, meaning ‘wedding shower’, is a
unique tradition in Germany that is generally
held the day before a bride and groom are due
to wed. It’s a big party where friends and
family gather at the front of the house and
smash things on the floor such as; plates,
flowerpots, tiles, anything that makes a lot of
noise in order to bring good luck, the only
exceptions being glass and mirrors, of course.

Once the dish breaking is done the bride and

groom then work together to clean it up as
preparation for the future.
Camel Wrestling (Turkey)
Forcing two animals to fight each other is
considered socially unacceptable in
many places. Cock-fighting, dog fighting,
and bull fighting are just a few examples.
In Turkey, camel wrestling is deemed
more acceptable because the animals do
not cause a lot of harm to each other. It is
a huge spectator sport. Even though
humans do not get involved in the bout
there is the risk that a fighting camel may
unintentionally spray some of their saliva
into the crowd. All part of the fun!
Nag Panchami (India)
A tradition in India sees people come
together to celebrate snakes. Some of the
most venomous snakes in the world are
carried in a basket to a temple in rural
areas such as Maharashtra. Once there,
the snakes are sprinkled in a mix of red
powder, milk, and honey before they are
released into the temple courtyard. What
could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing
apparently. Mortal bites at the Nag
Panchami Festival are unheard of. Clearly,
health and safety does not need
strengthening in rural India!
The monkey buffet (Thailand)
On the last Sunday of November something rather
spectacular, if a little bit strange, happens in Phra
Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, Thailand.
A lavish banquet is laid out and a big celebration is
held, but not for humans. The feast is held in
honour of Lopburi’s thousands of macaques that
supposedly bring good luck to the area and its
occupants and therefore they are the special
guests at this party.

The festival includes performances by dancers in

monkey costumes during the opening ceremony
and towers of fruits and vegetables in which the
monkeys climb, jump and indulge on.
Finger cutting of the Dani tribe
Everyone grieves differently after the loss of a
loved one but the women of the Dani tribe in
Indonesia have quite a unique and severe way
of dealing with grief.
When they lose a loved one the top joint of a
woman’s finger will be amputated. String will be
tightly tied around the finger until it goes numb
and then a family member, often a sibling or
parent will cut off the top of the finger. The
wound is then burnt to stop the bleeding and
prevent infection.
The process is carried out to symbolise the pain
suffered after the loss of a loved one and to
keep the deceased person’s spirit away.
Baby tossing (India)
You may want to sit down for this one. In India,
they have a ritual that involves throwing newborn
babies off the side of temples. If you got married
at the 50-foot-high Sri Santeswar temple in
India, it’s a tradition to return with your baby and
throw them from the top onto a cloth that is held
by both Muslims and Hindus below.

These are some of the strangest traditions but

although they may seem absurd to some, they
are a way of life for others and natives believe
that they have very good reasons for their
actions.