Word: rituals
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...Muslim faithful in Kabul - and everywhere else - it might as well have been yesterday. There is a vivid intensity to their mourning of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad with black banners, dirges, funereal marches and somber sermons in mosques - and also by ritual bloodletting and physical mortification. Every year, during the festival of Ashura, Shi'ites symbolically punish themselves for their failure to rally to their imam at the Battle of Karbala and save him from his enemies in a conflict that marked the beginning of the Sunni-Shi'ite schism...
Lacking provincial venues, English opera took root in the grand country house in the 1930s, and it has evolved into a ritual involving evening dress, a gourmet picnic and a sense of exclusivity. Glyndebourne is the oldest of the élite, followed by Garsington and, since 1998, Grange Park, which keeps up with the others on all counts - setting, performances, food and a dapper audience. While they all have priority booking for members, the public can obtain tickets months before the season starts - but be quick, since availability is limited...
...hectares of gardens. But if you become overwhelmed and crave a little more intimacy, then retreat to the resort's traditional Hammam (Turkish bath). This beautiful, warm sanctuary, with its intricate mosaics and splendid dome, is a place where the outside world melts away. I chose the Ritual treatment, where I disrobed and was bathed by my therapist before entering the steam room. My body was then plastered in mint-scented clay and my face smeared with honey that smelled so sweet I was tempted to taste it. Know going in that the word massage is derived from the Arabic...
...Ganges, the most sacred river in India, is so gunked up with industrial and human waste that many Hindus were understandably hesitant about diving in recent weeks to ritually cleanse their souls as their faith directs. But after thousands of holy men threatened to boycott the six-week festival - one of the largest gatherings in the world - while others said they would commit the ritual suicide "jal samadhi" in protest, officials in India flushed the river with water from an upstream dam. Here's how other waterways have fared since their filthy conditions were plunged into the spotlight...
...Harvard’s ritual deluge of flesh poured through the Yard without a hitch this reading period, heralding the usual frigid sausage fest. And as usual, there was a distinct lack of female participants...