Twist on a Classic: Throw Children from the Roof!?
On October 15th, hundreds of community members in Jalna Town, Maharashtra India, congregated at a temple to watch as the head priest flung infants and toddlers from a height of 6 feet onto a cloth held by devotees below.
This odd and rather unsafe tradition is Jalna Town’s own unique way of celebrating Navrati, a nine-day Hindu festival practiced at the beginning of each of the four seasons.
According to local history records (or legends?), the practice began 500 years ago, when priests would throw children between two months to four years of age from a 40-feet high rooftop.
Thankfully nowadays the priests only hurl the children from a height of 6 feet, though it is still a questionable activity for the modern age.
“This tradition of hurling children is almost 500 years old,” said Dwarkanath Waghmare, the unapologetic priest in charge of the child hurling. “We didn’t stop this tradition because we can’t hurt the feeling of devotees.”
Indeed. The feelings of devotees should always come before the physical health of children. Ironically, the particular reasoning behind this custom is the belief that it’ll enhance the children’s physical health and stamina.
I don’t know about all that, but this activity will certainly give them an advantage in case they ever decide to compete on Fear Factor. Anyway. Feel free to take a peek below. FYI – Hi. I’m Johnny Knoxsville. Welcome to Jackass India!
By V Saxena on 27-10-2010
V Saxena
