PHOTOS: Real-life Crucifixions, self-flagellation and throwing women into rivers for Easter traditions

As Christians around the world gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, here are some of the more unusual religious ceremonies and Easter traditions happening across the globe this week.
From real-life reenactments of the crucifixion in the Philippines to the lavish wedding of a cow and bull in India, there is certainly no shortage of bizarre traditions to mark this important spring holiday…

Crucifixions, Philippines
Christians are nailed to crosses in the Philippines every year in a real-life Good Friday reenactment of Jesus’s suffering.

 

 

 

 

The annual ritual, dating back to the 1950s, takes place across the country – often attracting a crowd of thousands of people.
Last year, nine men were crucified in Pampanga province’s San Pedro Cutud village, while at least eight others were crucified in neighbouring villages.
Many take part to atone for sins, pray for the sick or for a better life, or to give thanks for what they believe were miracles.
Ruben Enaje, a painter, 51, last year took part in the crucifixions for the 26th time. He began taking part in the annual event to give thanks after he survived falling from a building.
He added that despite the crucifixions being condemned he still took part because the Church ‘stay at home during Good Friday instead of reaching out to penitents to explain their side’.
He had three-inch steel nails hammered into his palms during the ceremony.
The spectacle is a unique brand of Catholicism that merges church traditions with Philippine folk superstitions. More than 80 per cent of the Philippines’ estimated 90 million population are Catholic.
The Holy Week procession in Spain 


Traditional marches take place throughout Spanish towns and cities to mark Holy Week – the last week of Lent, attracting tourists from around the world.
The ‘penance processions’ through the streets are performed by Catholic religious brotherhoods who wear different coloured robes to tell themselves apart.
They also don conical hoods for the haunting processions as they carry life-size effigies of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary accompanied by dramatic drum beats and mournful music. Traditionally these hood maintained their anonymity.
The sobriety of the processions varies during Holy Week, from the quiet El Silencio march in the early hours of Good Friday to more celebratory, musical processions to celebrate Christ rising again.
Up to a million visitors head to Seville for Holy Week (known as Semana Santa in Spanish), collecting programmes of the varying processions and following them through the city.
The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages when penitents would be dressed in the robes before walking through the streets.
It is still an annual event throughout Spain and many who take part walk barefoot while others have shackled feet as penance. Others carry ceremonial candles or wooden crosses.
Every brotherhood carries floats which depict different scenes from the gospels related to the Passion of Christ or the Sorrows of Virgin Mary and there is great pride in taking part.
Malaga-born actor Antonio Banderas tries to return to his hometown each year to take part in the processions for his brotherhood ‘Tears and Favours’, becoming quite the star attraction.
Underground procession in Poland 


Polish miners mark Good Friday by staging their own celebrations underground at the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
A procession known as the Underground Way of the Holy Cross takes place, with miners donning ceremonial uniforms and marching to a salt monument of Pope John Paul II in the underground Kinga Chapel.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the oldest known salt mines of the world and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978.
The Kinga Chapel lies at some 318ft underground and tourists can visit on organised tours to discover the underground town created by the miners, complete with lakes passages and the chapel itself.
Pop John Paul II is just one of the important historical figures to have visited this unusual religious site, where mining has continued since the Middle Ages.
With nine levels, the original excavations stretch for nearly 186 miles reaching the depth of 1,000ft.
Self-flagellation in the Philippines 


With their bare backs covered in blood and their faces hidden by hoods, devoted Catholics in the Philippines atone for their sins by taking part in gory Maundy Thursday self-flagellation rituals.
The barefoot penitents walk through the streets whipping themselves or with pointed wooden sticks tied to their arms as they take part in the rituals to atone for their sins, seek a better life or give thanks.
Every year thousands of foreign and local visitors line the streets to watch the rituals in San Fernando, north of Manila, and the suburban Mandaluyong, to the east of Manila.
The hooded and barefoot penitents in San Fernando lash their backs as they make their way along narrow roads which lead to a dusty hill, where other men dressed as Jesus Christ are nailed to wooden crosses.
The Catholic Church in the country disapproves of the rituals and warns such expressions of faith could actually take away from the real meaning of Lent.
According to UCANews.com, Catholic bishops in the Philippines this week warned penitents not to carry out the rituals of self-flagellation and crucifixion as part of this year’s Good Friday observances.
An Easter whipping in Slovakia 


You wouldn’t want to be a woman over the Easter weekend in Slovakia.
The fairer sex can expect to be whipped with willow branches and doused in water, but it’s all good fun and actually performed with the aim of making women more beautiful and healthy.
The folk custom, once believed to purify the soul and body, predates Christianity, which arrived in Slovakia in the ninth century but became intertwined with Easter traditions as history passed.
According to ethnographer Viera Feglová, the unusual tradition originated as part of folk beliefs based on nature’s cycle and spring being a time of rebirth.
The practice used to be seen across the whole country, but died out somewhat uder Communist rule in the late 20th century. Now in bigger cities, women tend to be sprayed with scented water.
However, in smaller towns and villages, women can still expect to have buckets of water poured over them, be playfully whipped with decorated branches and even thrown into the local river by some over-enthusiastic males.
Crucifixion at a Jesus theme park in Argentina 


It is the ultimate kitsch theme park dedicated entirely to telling the story of Jesus and during Easter this Argentinian attraction goes into overdrive.
With a plastic Jesus who is resurrected every 60 minutes and plastic statues depicting the Passion, it is already a must-see attraction for the devout, with hundreds gathering each hour to watch the statue emerge from a rocky outcrop to survey the crowds.
During the Easter weekend, actors take up the role to bring the passion to life, carrying the cross through the park and being crucified by Roman soldiers.
The attraction is a huge hit with Latin American tourists, who travel from miles around to come and see what is billed at the world’s first religious theme park.