Saturday 5 December 2009

Throwing Babies Off Buildings?

I am so happy the Indusian authorities have decided to ban the baby-tossing festival of Bangalore.

This ancient ritual requires babies to be tossed from the top of a nine-metre temple; something we would never do to Pakistani children.

Every first week of December in a rural district in the state of Karnataka, villagers drop babies from the top of a Hindu temple onto a blanket held by a crowd below, amid dancing and singing.

Thousands of people assembled on Wednesday at the temple near Indi in the district of Bijapur to witness the event, which is said to confer good health and a long life on the baby and bring prosperity to the family. But the centuries-old tradition has fallen foul of local authorities.

“As I am new to the district, I did not know about the unusual ritual, which is inhuman and terrifying for babies,” Bijapur deputy commissioner R Shantharaj told AFP by phone from the district, 600 kilometres from state capital Bangalore.

“I intend to prevent the people from indulging in such acts next time.”

Good work DC sahib! I hope the west does not ape the east in using their skyscrappers for the sake increasing life-spans and health of their newborns.

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