The ‘FATTEST MAN’ competition of the Bodi Tribe

The ‘FATTEST MAN’ competition of the Bodi Tribe
Slim might be a prerequisite for beauty elsewhere, but for Ethiopia's Bodi or Me'en people, bigger is always better. The tribe, which lives in a remote corner of Ethiopia's Omo Valley, is home to an unusual ritual which sees young men gorge on cow's blood and milk for six months locked in a hut, in a bid to be crowned the fattest man. Six months after starting the routine, the men emerge to show off their newly engorged physiques and for a winner to be chosen. The champion fat man is then feted as a hero for the rest of his life.
Trust me you’ve never seen anything like this before.
Ethiopia is a land of many cultures that have been preserved despite western civilization. Along the Lower Omo valley river in Southern Ethiopia resides the Bodi Tribe. The Bodi people are agriculturalists who still engage in trade by barter system. These pastoral people have a population of 10,000 people and they reverence their cows. Their cows are so special to them that it’s blood together with fresh milk plays a very crucial role in a yearly ceremony the Bodi tribe take seriously, called the Ka’el ceremony.
At the start of each year, they hold the “Ka’el ceremony”, which is the ceremony of fat men to mark the New Year celebrations. The Ka’el ceremony is a competition for men who are not married and involves drinking a special mixture of blood and milk. This happens as the 14 clans of the Bodi tribe present a man who is single and deemed fit for the competition. Those who are contesting prepare for six months. During this period, the contestants must not have sex and must not be seen outside their huts.
Cows are sacred to the Bodi tribe because they’re the source of the special mixtures the tribes men feed on for six months to grow fat. The cows are not killed for the purpose of this ritual. Rather the blood is drawn by piercing a hole in a vein with a spear or an axe, and after that, they close it with clay.
Because of the scorching temperatures, the men have to drink a two-litre bowl of blood and milk quickly before it coagulates, but still, not everyone can handle drinking so much at speed, so they often times vomit. These ones get disqualified, as vomiting is not allowed in the competition.
On the d-day, the men design their bodies with clay and ashes before emerging from their huts for the walk to the spot where the ceremony will take place. This long walk seem tortuous because of their excess weight gain and protruding stomach which makes them a lot heavier. As part of the competition, they run around sacred trees for hours sometimes with the assistance of women who ply them with alcohol and wipe away their sweats. While at it, they are under the watchful eyes of their judges. When a winner is chosen by the elderly judges, they crown him, “fat man of the year title.” After this, the people use a sacred stone to hit a cow before killing it. The intestines and blood are then inspected by the village elders and used to predict what the year holds.
After the ceremony, the men’s lives return to normal and most lose their enormous bellies after a few weeks of eating sparingly. Few weeks later, the next generation of competitively fat Bodi men will be chosen and the cycle repeats.
Becoming a fat man is the dream of every Bodi kid because he will remain a hero for life even though his stomach gets back to normal.
Sadly, Bodi’s traditional way of life is under threat from the Ethiopian government who plans to resettle 300,000 people from all over the country on their lands. For now, the tribe continues as they always have, and still celebrate the Ka’el in traditional style yearly in the month of June.
If you know of a more mind blowing tradition, kindly mention in the comment section below.
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[@storytimewithunclekumaran5004]

I can see why generally that villagers and indigenous people have a hard time fitting into western culture when they get there.

[@Ayokimora]

Nice one 👍👍👍👍

[@AfricaScope]

😊🌹

[@waseemabbas729]

​@@AfricaScopeç

[@atewo_official7386]

Wow❤️

[@dakedakinson64]

3:34 traditional Bodi headgear?

[@BroMan-vm5gt]

A tourists probably left it on the floor

[@Croter8ment]

​@@BroMan-vm5gtimagine being the only guy in the tribe to have sunglasses. He must get all kinds of action

[@mercifancy647]

primitivity is hard to go.. it's a cultural heritage I guess... they are best this way...

[@patrick-bu3eq]

Fat, Primitive and Thriving. Could make a nice show.

[@MLtipstricksbeginnerguides]

They should stay there and in their time,stone age

[@TNM799]

👍👍👍

[@LuciaSantos-ys5xu]

Horrível