This document summarizes various cultural traditions from around the world. It describes the practices of foot binding in China, female circumcision in Somalia, Sati tradition in India where widows would throw themselves on their husband's funeral pyre, and sky burials in Tibet where bodies are left exposed to be eaten by animals. It also mentions hanging coffins in parts of Asia, commemorative statues for burials in Madagascar, inheritance of widows in Mozambique, and in some Peruvian tribes the practice of eating dead men's corpses. It provides brief descriptions of cultural norms around burping in Indonesia, a monkey buffet festival in Thailand, camel wrestling in Turkey, the job of deflowering virgins in

1. DIVERSITY Allaroundtheworld, there are somecustomsthatfascinateus, let’sseesome of them…

2. FoodBinding For about a thousand years, young Chinese girls had to undergo the painful and debilitating process of foot binding. Girls between the ages of three and fourteen had their feet broken and bound with bandages, in order to prevent their feet from growing “too big”.

3. FEMALE CIRCUMCISION Somalia Somaligirlsgothroughtheprocess of femalecircumcisionafterthey are born. ThistraditionalpracticeisembeddeddeepwithinSomaliculture, and thebeliefiswidelyheldthatitisnecessaryto “cleanse” a girlchild. In somecommunities, girlscannotbemarriedwithoutit.

4. Circumcision

5. The Sati Culture in India Sati is an ancient culture where a woman would burn herself on her dead husband’s funeral fire. It was considered an honorable act and the widow was believed to enter straight into heaven, as a reward for her sacrifice. The act was banned by the British Government, but in the late 1980s, an instance was reported. Another case was also reported in 2002.

6. Skyburial

7. Tibetanskyburial Sky burial was a funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is placed on a mountain top, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator which literally means, "giving alms to the birds." The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may let it decompose. So the function of the sky burial is simply the disposal of the remains.

8. Thehangingcoffins Hangingcoffins are coffinswhichhavebeen placed oncliffs. They can befound in variouslocations, includingChina, Indonesia, and thePhilippines.

9. Madagascar Burial Once thedeadpersonisbroughttotheirtomb and buried, a commemorativestatueisput up forthemthere. Thesacrifice of oneorseveralzebuaccompaniestheceremonyaccompanied bysongsand dance. Theceremonyendswith a partyduringwhichthesacrificedzebumeatissharedoutbetweenallthose present. Thesize of thisceremonydependsonthewealth of thepersonwhodied and sometimesherds of ten, evenhundreds of zebuwhich are sacrificed.

10. Mozambique Whena woman’shusbanddied, sheisforcetomarryhisbrother in-laworanymalerelatives of herhusbandbecausesheisconsidered a property of thefamily.

11. In Peru…In sometribes of thiscountry, theyeatthecorpsesof deadmen.

12. Amongthisstrangecustoms, there are some of themwhich are reallyfunny MORE ODD TRADITIONS

13. Thai people In Thailand it is a grave insult to walk into a person's house with shoes on. Shoes are discarded at the front door. Not a silly idea really for one leaves all the litter of the streets outside where it belongs

14. Indonesia Burping It is not considered impolite to burp, and can even be regarded as a sign of appreciation of a good meal, therefore Indonesians generally do not excuse themselves after burping.

15. Monkey Buffet Festival No, this isn’t a festival that offers a variety of all-you-can-eat monkey dishes. Rather, the monkeys are the ones doing the feasting at this annual event in Thailand. Over 3,000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables are offered to the monkey population of the Lopburi province in Bangkok.

16. Camel Wrestling A kinder, gentler version of bullfighting? Perhaps. In Turkey, camel wrestling is a popular event where spectators watch in glee as two specially bred male camels wrestle each other. Serious injuries are rare, but spectators should be wary of being sprayed by the milky saliva of the agitated camels.

17. Guam men’sjob There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time. Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.

18. World-wide championship of wife rise (Sonkajärvi, Finland) Each 4 of July are celebrated in this small Finnish locality the world-wide championship of wife rise (any woman elder than 17 years is worth like `wife'). This ‘sport’ remind the Viking tradition about taking the wife of the fellow by loading her to his back. Whether the wife falls down on the ground when depositing her, there is a penalty. At the moment, the Estonians show with pride the world-wide title.