Tongue Piercing Ritual
The Hindu people in India believe that piercing of the tongue by which a metal rod is driven into the tongue wherein by doing this they attain spiritual purity. With this metal rod on in a person, he or she will go around the villages. There are strict restrictions for this practice of tongue piercing which might even lead to serious injuries or life-threatening infections. But however this practice of tongue piercing is being done right from the time of our ancestors and so far there have been no reports of infections among the people. Apart from tongue piercing sometimes the people even follow the ritual of insertion of iron hooks into the skin, free-falling from high platforms and hanging upside down over fiery pots to frenzied drum beats.
Tongue Piercing Ceremony is done on auspicious day
-This almost looks like a miracle. Among the Hindus this ritual of piercing the tongue and in different part of the body usually takes place at the time of the Thaipusam festival. A day or two before the festival the devotees shave their head and carry various types of kavadi or burdens. At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common. A spear is generally used for piercing the tongue or even in the cheeks where the spear is dedicated to Lord Murugan or Lord Skandan.
Piercing gives them greater power
-On piercing the devotees will not be able to strike conversation and this will help them give the power to face any great difficulty in the individual's life. There are various other similar types of ritual which involves hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or more recently a tractor, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain.
