In India it is forbidden to call for rain (6 photos)

Not because the government is against rain, but because it wants to eradicate the ritual of calling for rain, common in some villages in the outback. This is because the rain calls for a parade of little girls stripped naked, and this tradition no longer fits modern moral standards.





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The scandal erupted not even because of tradition, but because smartphones and the Internet finally appeared in even remote villages. And someone posted an old Indian rain ritual online.

Judging by the video (which cannot be published here), at least six girls walk through the village naked, carrying a wooden stick with a frog.



Since the video was uploaded online, it is considered ethnographic

According to tradition, they must beg at every door in the village to solicit bounty from the gods. And to keep an eye on them, adults follow them, thanks for being dressed, women.

This is a gesture of desperation, ancient rituals are resorted to when the village is afraid of starvation due to drought. The village feeds itself from rice fields, and this is a very moisture-loving crop, the cultivation land for which is gradually shrinking every year.





And this is a naked boy calling for rain in the same state in another year. There were no girls, sorry!

Ban!

Activists filed a complaint with the Damoh district administration that children's rights were not respected. And the authorities began an investigation, although the children did not look as if they were being forced.

In this village, every resident is convinced that this is the most common everyday thing. And it’s stupid to be ashamed or embarrassed, because the child helps save the village and ask for rain.



Drought and famine are still synonymous in Indian villages

In the state of Rajasthan, by the way, adult women are stripped. There, a completely naked woman must plow a field to shame the Hindu god of rain for the drought.

I don’t even know which ritual is more embarrassing. In my opinion - not a single one, this is an ethnographically valuable, endangered ritual, shouldn’t it be protected. Moreover, it does not harm anyone.



And these are the priests praying for rain in tubs of water. To make the connection with the god of water closer

On the contrary, everyone in America admires the rain dances of the Indians.

By the way, I wrote that in India there is another, very cute way to summon rain and harvest - to arrange a real wedding with festivities for frogs from two different ponds!



Look what a beautiful couple, and the bride is glowing!