World’s Top 5 Crazy Wedding Superstitions and Rituals

Crazy ritual like marrying a girl to a dog to drive off evil spirits to spitting on bride’s breast for good fortune.

Indian puppets or kathputlis depict the tale of a husband and a wife (Photo: iStockphoto)

1. Marrying a Stray Dog, Then Husband

Mangli Munda,18, from Jharkhand, was advised by village elders that marrying a dog would ward off an evil spell. A local sage warned her parents that the teenager possessed ill-luck, and marrying a man would bring destruction to the family and her community. So in order to do away with this superstition, a dog called Sheru was brought to the wedding in a chauffeur driven car and was married to Mangli.

Mangli, who has not been to school, said she was not happy to wed a dog, but insisted that it will help change her fortunes.

2. Beating the Groom’s Feet, South Korea

This type of ritual or wedding ceremony is followed in South Korea where the groom’s feet are tied with a rope and he is made to lie upside down. Friends and acquaintances come one by one and beat the groom’s feet with a cane colloquially called falaka in South Korea.

This is done in a jovial mood and is considered to make the groom stronger for the first wedding night. Thing to note: this was a type of corporal punishment in Nazi Germany.

3. The Ritual of Blackening the Bride, Scotland

‘Blackening of the bride’ is a ritual which is part of Scottish traditions.This ritual happens before the wedding. Relatives of the bride and groom tie them to a tree, and smear them with anything like spoiled milk, cornflour, chocolate syrup, egg yolk and feathers. Noise is made by beating utensils to scare off evil spirits.

It still happens in some parts of Scotland.

4. Spitting on the Bride, Massai, Kenya

Spitting on bride is considered to bring good fortune in Massai. (Photo : iStockphoto)

In the wedding ceremony held by the Massai people, the bride’s head is shaved and animal’s fat and oil is applied on her head. The weirdest thing follows soon, when the father of the bride blesses his daughter by spitting on her head and bosom, believed to bring prosperity in future.

5. Tying the ‘Knot’ With a Peepal, or Banana Tree

According to Hindu astrology, manglik guy or a girl (calculated using algorithms of horoscope) and a non-manglik cannot get hitched otherwise disharmony and injury to either of the spouse may follow after their marriage, called Manglik Dosh or a curse. In order to reverse this curse the Manglik has to perform Kumbh Vivah (a wedding between a Mangalik and either a statue of Vishnu or a Peepal tree, or a banana tree, or a clay pot).

Before marrying Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is a Mangalik, first performed the ritual of Kumbh Vivah with a Peepal (sacred fig tree), a banana tree, and a statue of God Vishnu.