IHSS: HW, Research and Write - Rituals: Mahamastakabhisheka - Aiden C

 IHSS: HW, Research and Write - Rituals: Mahamastakabhisheka - Aiden C

 This tradition was one like many others, celebrated around an ancient figure, and which has become much over exaggerated as of today. This ceremony started out in Shravanabelagola, India, 20,000 years ago, where it was believed that a man named Bahubali was to become the king of the Kingdom of Abhanatha. Bahubali, whose name means "arm strength" was to fight his brother for the position. Because of his massive arm strength, he almost killed his brother during the fight. He felt so bad about this that he pulled out all his hair and tore off all his clothing, and stood motionless for a year. Because of this, in 981 AD, a statue of him was erected. 

This statue is washed for 10 days straight in a ceremony observed by almost two million devotees. This only happens every 12 years though, so it isn't a tradition as big as something like Christmas. Although it was big enough, in 2006, a man paid 1.3 million dollars just to be the first one to wash the statue. I think that this ceremony, although very meaningful, is a little overinflated. To me, this was one man that worked out a lot and almost killed his brother, which for me seems like something that should receive a little less attention. 

But again, nobody even knows where the tradition of Christmas came from, and it is celebrated by so many people, I think that in the end, this is just a great way to get people to come together and witness a great event. If you want to see this event for yourself, go to Shravanabelagola, India in 2030, and you can watch this for yourself.


Works Cited

Hunter, Jeremy. “In Pictures: The World’s Most Unusual Ancient Rituals.” Rough Guides, Rough Guides, 14 Apr. 2017, www.roughguides.com/article/in-pictures-the-worlds-most-unusual-ancient-rituals/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2020.
‌

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Civil Rights Issues in Syria - Alex Gross

  Alex Gross Mr. Roddy IHSS 6 April 2021 Civil Rights in Syria Syria, the densely populated country in the Middle East which is home to over 17 million people is plagued with a plethora of different Civil Rights issues and violations. The issues in Syria range from unlawful killings and assassinations, to excessive deployment of government forces. There have also been hundreds of articles in the past few years surrounding the Syrian refugee issues, which says a lot about the status of corruption in the country. An article from the Atlantic Council that was published yesterday (April 5th, 2021) goes into detail about another aspect of the difficulties of life in Syria; the economic struggle. The citizens of Syria are forced by the government to pay ridiculous amounts of money to exit and enter the country, renew passports, and quarantine due to covid. In-turn, this causes the citizens to be less likely to leave the country, despite its many issues. This problem is exacerbated by ...
Read more

Arkansas' Anti-trans bill

  Isa Pedersen  Mr. Roddy  IHSS 9 April 2021 Arkansas’ Anti-trans bill  For centuries the trans community was discriminated against. But recently Arkansas passed a bill that highly affects trans rights and healthcare. The bill states that trans individuals are not allowed to get gender affirming surgeries. This included hormones such as testosterone and androgen, as well as puberty blockers. This is said to be one of the most detrimental bills passed against the trans community in ages. Not only this but some states have already passed bills that don't allow trans kids to take part in sports or competitions. These states include Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Tennessee and Alabama are already starting to get the same bill passed. Texas is on the list that is assumed to follow Arkansas and pass the bill as well. Certain cities were able to make bills that heavily discriminate against the trans community, but states have never passed bills this big before. The...
Read more

The Pandemic has Been Bad for Civil Rights - Andy

Andy Walsh Mr. Roddy IHSS 6 April 2021 The Pandemic has Been Bad for Civil Rights  The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of challenges to today’s society. However, in Latin America it is an even bigger issue. Across all of Latin America, the health crisis has been accompanied by civic disruptions causing the lack of communication and justice in civic spaces. Widespread quarantines and lockdowns have put a lot of stress on the civic system of all countries. However, countries with high poverty and large homeless populations have had trouble enforcing rules related to COVID. The lack of enforcement and communication have caused many issues in these countries. “ The measures taken in response to the pandemic have restricted civic spaces at local, national, regional and even international levels. The situation is alarming to the international community in general, and to the international rights community in particular.” (Andrés Serbin ). COVID has brought the need for governments...
Read more