Spectator play, ritual play we're involved in some of that.

But the sacrifice of buffalo and the ritual display of wealth also exhibits the status of the deceased, and, by extension, the deceased's family.

It is used for medicinal and ritual purposes, and is also well known as a natural energy supplier.

In our tradition, there is a ceremony that girls have to undergo to become women, and it's a rite of passage to womanhood.

The items of our cultural heritage continue to be used today in community and family rites and ceremonies.

The rituals of acceptance or rejection were formal as was the way in which the arrangements were made.

What cursed foot wanders this way to night, To cross my obsequies and true love's rite?

Historically, the rich in each low caste emulated the customs and rituals of the upper castes, such as child marriage, the payment of dowries, and prevention of widows remarrying.

Culture is a reaction to nature, and this understanding of our ancestors is transmitted generation from generation in the form of stories, symbols and rituals, which are always indifferent to rationality.

Rituals of engagement and marriage differed between the different islands but generally a marriage was formalized when exchanges of gifts were made accompanied with the payment of a bride price which was presented from the bridegroom's family to the bride's family.

The early hours of Friday morning in the Manama souq area attract Indians, with their oiled hair, ironed clothes, and different tastes.

In Pennsylvania, a 1998 inquiry into a supermax prison notorious for racist guards revealed videotapes of routine beatings and elaborate rituals of humiliation.

Anthropologist Wade Davis muses on the worldwide web of belief and ritual that makes us human. He shares breathtaking photos and stories of the Elder Brothers, a group of Sierra Nevada indians whose spiritual practice holds the world in balance.