Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Bet You’ll Never Think of Coconuts the Same Way Ever Again…


A new friend of mine recently told me that in ancient Hinduism, human sacrifice was often practiced, and that a human’s skull was sometimes split as part of the process. She also said that in light of the fact that such sacrifices are now illegal, many Hindu priests will use a coconut instead. It’s roughly the same size, shape and weight of a human head, and so it is still often split as part of the priestly duties. She also said that in many instances even today, the Hindu priest will color the milky white “coconut milk” inside with red food dye to make it look more like blood once the coconut has been fractured.

I asked Raj about this historical piece of information, and he agreed that it was so. In addition, he said that covertly, even today, whenever anyone builds a bridge or a dam, there will be a small, hollowed out grave at the base where a Hindu priest has been invited (usually under cover of darkness) to sacrifice 2 to 3 humans to ensure that the bridge stays erect of the dam successfully holds back the water.

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