Matam Video -- National Geographic

Matam Video Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims live in Hyderabad, India...and for several days each year, they demonstrate their faith in a dramatic spectacle called Matam.Welcome to the National Geographic video player.Video Sections

Travel & Cultures Video - The rich variety of the world's landscapes and cultures come to life breathtaking footage from China, India, Egypt and more.

Culture >> Beliefs and Traditions - See first-hand the different expressions people around the world make to represent their interpretations of the world in which they live.
- Apache Girl's Rite of Passage - In New Mexico, the Mescalero Apache reservation prepares for a coming-of-age ritual. Over the span of four days, young Apache girls will pass through ancient tests of strength, endurance, and character that will make them women.
- Birth of Voodoo - Voodoo was born in the West African nation of Benin. And here it is an official religion.
- Blood Initiation - The highlands of Papua New Guinea...a place so remote that the people who live here, are among the most isolated. One of the native tribes practices an ageless ritual so secret that it has never before been witnessed by some members of the tribe.
- Cactus Drug - For psychological relief, some Peruvians may turn to a "drug journey" that includes hallucinations. But they don't experience the drug alone.
- Child Marriage - Though outlawed by the state, child marriage is popular in North India, where marriage often precedes love. Here, four youngsters are about to wed.
- Corpse Lives With Family - When a grandmother dies in this Indonesian community, the family may keep the body around the house for months after her passing.
- Crocodile Scars - In Papua New Guinea, a group of initiates is about to enter the final stage of a long and arduous ritual. There is no set age for the rite ... but no one can have full status as a man until he's been scarred with the mark of the crocodile.
- Crucifixion - A Filipino man subjects himself to an actual crucifixion every year, as an oath to God.
- Dama - In Mali, a young Dogon male may believe that without a unique ceremony, he will remain suspended between boyhood and manhood.
- Destination: Eastern Africa - Explore Eastern Africa on a Serengeti safari, trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, or tiptoe past endangered gorillas in mountain jungles. East Africa offers adventures of all kinds, and the chance to relax on sensational island beaches too.
- Destination: Egypt, Pyramids - Egypt's ancient pyramids have left visitors awestruck for thousands of years, and continue to do so today.
- Destination: India - Yes, the Taj Mahal is stunning, but so are many other sights and sounds in the world's second-most populous country.
- Destination: Laos, Luang Prabang - The royal city of Luang Prabang in Laos is also known as the "City of the Golden Buddha," which offers visitors an array of lovely temples and a serene pace.
- Destination: North Africa - In this land of vast deserts, ancient cities, and bustling markets, the cultures of Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean come together.
- Destination: West and Central Africa - For the intrepid traveler, West and Central Africa presents exciting new places to explore. Check out a plethora of festivals and colorful celebrations or hire an eco-guide to see a menagerie of wildlife throughout this rich region.
- Drug Tourists - For millennia, indigenous groups here have used plant hallucinogens in an ancient form of healing. But can powerful drugs used as sacraments be taken by tourists, with the same mystical effects?
- Eating Dogs - In northern Benin, humans revere dogs for their loyalty and bravery, the very qualities people here hope to absorb when they kill and eat the animals.
- Exorcism - A Filipina mother believes her young son is possessed, and seeks an exorcism.
- Firewalking - A firewalking festival called the Anastenaria, revolves around a set of ancient icons that worshippers believe have special powers—to purify, heal and protect. But others view the ritual as sacrilege.
- Free Love - In southwest China, one culture allows men and women to have multiple partners. But their reputed promiscuity comes with obligations.
- Fulani Initiation Rites - Benin boys move toward manhood by enduring the sting of a whip.
- Gay Marriage - Gay couples struggle with the values of family and society as they make plans to walk down the aisle.
- Ghana Witches - Travel to Gnani, a village in northern Ghana and home to a group of women accused of practicing black magic. Banished from their homes and shunned by their families, these former witches must live out the rest of their days in exile.
- Haitian Voodoo - Haiti is a Catholic country. But daily life still moves to the rhythms of spirit religion.
- Healing Spirit - In rural Ethiopia, the old ways still prevail. 25 miles from Addis Ababa, the village of Debre Zeyet prepares for a special ritual. From miles around, the ill and the injured come—hoping to see the one person they believe can help.
- Initiation With Ants - In this remote Amazonian village, becoming an adult means sticking your hand into a swarm of angry, stinging giant ants.
- Knife Dancing - A ritual of passage for a South Korean girl requires dancing barefoot on top of sharp knives.
- Luang Pra Bang - Travel to the capital of Laos to watch the daily processions of young, and old, monks.
- Male Circumcision - The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is home to the Xhosa people, one of the nation's largest tribes. They live in the modern world, but they maintain ancient customs—including one by which boys become men...and starts with pain.
- Matam - Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims live in Hyderabad, India...and for several days each year, they demonstrate their faith in a dramatic spectacle called Matam.
- Multiple Husbands - The opposite of polygamy is polyandry, when a woman has multiple husbands. One group in the Himalayas practices this lifestyle.
- Multiple Marriage - A Muslim tribe in Togo practices polygamy. For them, another wife means another set of hands to do the work.
- New World Voodoo - African slaves brought voodoo with them to Venezuela centuries ago. But even today, thousands of Catholics flock to a mountainside each year to practice what is really an offshoot from their mix of beliefs.
- Nudist Camp - It's Christmas time in Florida, a time when neighbors get together to share some holiday cheer. But at this Christmas party, some might say they share too much.
- Peyote - A natural hallucinogen becomes part of a ritual in an area of Mexico.
- Ramadan - Celebrate Ramadan, a month of sacrifice and prayer, with the Muslims of Denver, Colorado.
- Rat Temple - At first glance, this temple in northern India looks like any other. But this temple also houses other deities. And there's not one...not two...but over 15,000 of them inside. Welcome to the rat temple.
- Sanaa - A sign of Yemeni manhood, the hook-shaped blade known as a Jambiya looks fierce, but is almost never used as a weapon.
- Santeria - Santeria was brought to the New World by African slaves. They believe their deities are living things, with the same needs as other beings. But each one has the power to bring good luck...or misfortune.
- Second Burial - Burying a loved one is a sad affair in most places, but burying them twice is a cause for happiness in Taiwan. Find out why.
- Self-Stabbing - On Bali, religious believers show their devotion to God by stabbing themselves.
- Speaking to the Dead - In the jungles of Central Africa, holy men from a religion called Bwiti believe they have found a way to talk to the dead. The key is a mind-altering drug that brings on violent, terrifying visions, and occasionally even death.
- Spirit Healers - In Zimbabwe people have access to modern medicine. Yet many of the people still have powerful ties to the world of the spirits. And when modern remedies fail, many turn to traditional healers.
- Sulawesi Funeral - Journey to Indonesia for funeral season, and watch the Torajan honor the dead.
- Sworn Virgins - In northern Albania, the only way a woman can have the rights of a man is to take an oath of celibacy and become a sworn virgin.
- Thaipusam - Some cultures invoke the spirits in ways outsiders might find strange or even shocking—allowing their bodies to be pierced with skewers and hooks. But each year, more than a million Malaysian Hindus take part in this ceremony called, Thaipusam.
- The Hajj - Join the Hajj, the five-day pilgrimage to the high plains of Arafat outside Mecca.
- Timkat - In an ancient ritual, Ethiopian Christians celebrate with a relic so sacred, they may not even cast their eyes upon it.
- Trappist Monks - The mountains of Utah prove to be the perfect location for a group of men who have chosen to take the road less traveled.
- Trial by Oil - In Togo trials both accuser and accused plunge their hands into boiling oil to determine who is telling the truth.
- Umbanda Religion - In Brazil, requests to kill a husband and remove a curse are all part of a unique religion.
- Vampires - It's the most unholy of acts—drinking human blood. Committed by creatures of the night—vampires! Most people don't think they really exist. But could it be they're closer than you'd ever dream?
- Wicca - In England, a coven of witches is gradually accepted into the community.
- Witchcraft - Practitioners of witchcraft are employing their skills for both beneficial and sinister uses.
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