Babies thrown off temple roof in ritual

[mhr123]

Friday, April 11, 2008 (Bagalkot, Karnataka) In a bizarre and dangerous ritual in Karnataka, babies are thrown off the roof of a temple on a sheet, held by people below. The belief is that the whole exercise makes the children strong. This strange ritual is held on special days at the Maruti temple in Jamkhandi taluk of Bagalkote district of north Karnataka. The ritual is an old tradition and as with many other such customs, it is based on faith. The Superintendent of Police of the district, Ramesh Hariharan, said that it was an old custom and that there was nothing illegal about it. He said there was no offence being committed in the ritual and that there had been no untoward incident so far. ''If you do this, it is good for the child. They become healthy. It is to get the blessings of God. The babies are between 9 months and 11 months old or sometimes are of even less age,'' said Jayashree, a mother. ''This is an old tradition. Our elders used to do this and now we are continuing this and it will continue in future as well. The children will be healthy and we will get God's blessing if we throw them off the temple,'' said another mother. ''It is to give them courage, intelligence and strength. This is an old tradition. These people have been doing this and we will continue to do this,'' she added. ''People have fear and devotion for the God. People do this so that the child becomes courageous. This is what people want. They feel it would benefit them,'' said a health department worker. With the crowds that gather at the temple for the ritual, one can see that it is very popular. As the fear of falling is a primal fear of humanity, it is just as well, perhaps, that these babies are much too young to know what is going on. :pray::pray::nervous: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080046602

[Desi Cartman]

Its stupid ... it reminds me of a news that I read years ago , a bus fell off a cliff and all passengers died except a 6 month old baby, the desi doctors concluded that some passengers died as they had heart attacks just thinking about what is happening where as the child didnt ...

[Gambit]

Could we keep off religious subjects and customs please? This only leads to tit for tat posts.

[Desi Cartman]

tit for tit

:haha:

[Gambit]

I guess something else was on my mind. :nervous:

[CSK Fan]

Friday, April 11, 2008 (Bagalkot, Karnataka) In a bizarre and dangerous ritual in Karnataka, babies are thrown off the roof of a temple on a sheet, held by people below. The belief is that the whole exercise makes the children strong. This strange ritual is held on special days at the Maruti temple in Jamkhandi taluk of Bagalkote district of north Karnataka. The ritual is an old tradition and as with many other such customs, it is based on faith. The Superintendent of Police of the district, Ramesh Hariharan, said that it was an old custom and that there was nothing illegal about it. He said there was no offence being committed in the ritual and that there had been no untoward incident so far. ''If you do this, it is good for the child. They become healthy. It is to get the blessings of God. The babies are between 9 months and 11 months old or sometimes are of even less age,'' said Jayashree, a mother. ''This is an old tradition. Our elders used to do this and now we are continuing this and it will continue in future as well. The children will be healthy and we will get God's blessing if we throw them off the temple,'' said another mother. ''It is to give them courage, intelligence and strength. This is an old tradition. These people have been doing this and we will continue to do this,'' she added. ''People have fear and devotion for the God. People do this so that the child becomes courageous. This is what people want. They feel it would benefit them,'' said a health department worker. With the crowds that gather at the temple for the ritual, one can see that it is very popular. As the fear of falling is a primal fear of humanity, it is just as well, perhaps, that these babies are much too young to know what is going on. :pray::pray::nervous: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080046602

More likely the babies will develop a psychological fear of ehight once they grow up, without knowing why!

[Desi Cartman]

More likely the babies will develop a psychological fear of ehight once they grow up' date=' without knowing why![/quote'] arey nahi they will all grow up to become super heroes like Shaktiman , Krish .. etc :two_thumbs_up:

[CSK Fan]

arey nahi they will all grow up to become super heroes like Shaktiman ' date=' Krish .. etc :two_thumbs_up:[/quote'] He, he, I hope they dont get into the habit of jumping from roof-tops after they are grown up.

[THX_1138]

Sam Harris (a noted modern day philosopher) in a speech delievered at the 2006 Beyond Belief conference said that "if i was to bow over my morning cereal and pray that the cereal may become a part of Elvis Presley, you would think that i am an idiot; whereas the very same gesture repeated in a church where you consume a sugar cracker under the pretext that it is a part of god is considered absolutely normal". the very best critics of religion are religious people themselves, except of the different faith. A Hindu will present the most intriguing questions about the legitamacy of Islam, and come across as a rather rational skeptic and similarly vice versa. For this particular incident, while the emotions of those involved in the ritual are running high, for a non believer or even an individual who chooses a different poison for his/her delusion, this ritual would be either absurd or downright dangerous. Unfortunately, that very same skepticism is not levied against the very faith this same individual chooses to believe in. If only Hindus questioned their rituals and beliefs with the incredulous attitude they present to other faiths, especially Islam, they would be knocking down walls they have constructed within their own community, the walls of prejudice, discrimination, and actually subjugate the economy they have setup with the temple priests on the top... Of course, the same advice is suggested for fellow Muslims, Christians etc etc.