Unusual Events Around the World

Introduction: So, prepare for some culture shock because today I will present you 3 unusual festivals of various places of the world! The first one is…

Thaipusam: Thaipusam is a Hindu ceremony that is held each year during the full moon in the tenth month of the Hindu calendar – Thai – falling from mid-January to mid-February. Thaipusam is celebrated by the Hindu people of South India and the main Hindu communities throughout Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Indonesia.

Moreover, Thaipusam is dedicated as a thanksgiving to Lord Subramaniam (also known as Murugan) for answered prayers, and is also a day of penance. Besides being acknowledged as a symbol of virtue, bravery, youth and beauty, the Hindus believe that Lord Subramaniam is also the universal distributor of favours.

At Thaipusam, rituals are held across the whole country. However, the most significant are the sacrifices held at Batu Caves (which is in northern Malaysia), where Hinduists climb a staircase of 272 stone stairs and during the journey they carry a burden, called „kavadi“. Kavadi is a steel or wooden frame with bars for support on the shoulders, normally decorated with flowers and peacock feathers. The larger ones with spikes can weigh as much as 40 kg and reach a height of four metres. Another form of sacrifice include piercing silver pins through the cheek and tongue and pricking the body with hooks and spear-like needles. Why is it all needed, you may ask? Well, followers of the custom believe that a short-term bodily pain is worth a long-term spiritual gain. The second event is...

La Tomatina: La Tomatina – often called the world’s largest food fight has been held in the Valencian town of Buñol on the last Wednesday of August since 1945. According to all accounts, there was a parade and festival in Buñol at that time, when a fight broke out between some young men. Taking advantage of a nearby fruit and vegetable seller’s stall, they threw tomatoes at each other. Of course, the police broke up the argument and those responsible ended up paying restitution to the tomato seller. But since then the festival gained popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year.

In addition to this, the tomato fight is the culmination of a week-long celebration made up of street parties, fireworks and food fairs in Buñol. The night before the fight, participants compete in a paella (Spanish rice dish) cooking contest. The following day, which must be Wednesday, La Tomatina starts at 11:00 am with the sound of a rocket being fired and ends one hour later.

However, the council of Buñol city provided a list of few simple rules to ensure the safety of festival‘s participants: 1) The tomatoes have to be squashed before throwing to avoid injuries; 2) Bottles or other type of objects which could cause an accident cannot be brought; 3) Participants have to give way to the truck and lorries; 4) The festival doesn't allow ripping off T-shirts; 5) No tomatoes should be thrown after the second warning firework.

Mwaka Kogwa: also known as "show of the year“ take place in July, in a Tanzanian town Makanduchi, located in the south of Zanzibar Island (in Africa).

The Mwaka Kogwa Festival is a new year's celebration that is meant to create a harmonious environment and to settle scores.

Though the festivities can last half a week, the real action happens on the first day. The celebration begins with two brothers from the south of Makunduchi that challenge two brothers from the north in a central wide open space called Kae Kuu. The representatives of both ends of the town are eventually joined by their supporters, and then the ritual becomes a fake fight, where banana stalks are used as weapons, so no one really gets injured. When all the banana stalks are finally too limp to use, everyone becomes friends again. It’s actually a purification ritual that marks the New Year and lets its participants release aggression and settle old debts so that they can step into the new year with a sense of balance.