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Why do humans embrace rituals? Disease and danger may be at the root of the behaviors.
Tim Vernimmen
© Photograph by Diana Bagnoli/laif, Redux
Celebrated in regions across India, Nepal, and other countries, Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu Vedic festival dedicated to the sun god Surya. During the festival, people participate in several rituals, such as bathing in holy water, abstaining from food and drink, and standing in the water for at least one hour to ask for protection for their families.
All human cultures have their rituals typically repetitive, symbolic behaviors that we experience as purposeful, though we generally can’t explain how they are supposed to work. These rituals can reinforce a sense of community and common beliefs, but their bewildering diversity can also alienate and separate people, particularly when the valued rituals of one culture strike another as bizarre. ....

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