Original subtitles

All around the world...

..we perform rituals.

From familiar customs...

..to extreme initiations.

Rituals help us mark the most important moments in our lives.

This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

They teach us how to love.

How to let go.

And how to find where we belong.

Let's light this city.

In this episode,

we'll explore the rituals

at the heart of the greatest human gatherings on earth,

and ask why we still choose to come together

for ceremonies

in vast numbers.

In the mountains of Japan, 2,000 men create a waterfall of fire

in a ritual of spiritual renewal.

In Nevada, 70,000 people unite to build a city in the desert

and then set their monuments ablaze.

And one man joins over a million to fulfil an extreme vow to

God in the biggest mass pilgrimage in Malaysia.

Across the planet,

we'll see how ritual gatherings keep communities alive.

And help us reinforce our own identity...

..by joining the crowd.

Every Remembrance Sunday,

millions of us across Britain honour the sacrifice of service people in

conflict with a two-minute silence.

Rituals can be intensely personal.

But their significance is amplified when we do them together...

..en masse.

WHISTLE BLOWS

CROWD CHEERS

When we share ritual experiences, they bind us together.

And our own identity is reinforced by those around us...

..in honour and with pride.

In Italy, the citizens of the ancient walled city of Siena

have united every summer since the Middle Ages.

A ritualised horse race in which the city's partisan neighbourhoods

go head-to-head to win a silk banner.

It's August, and for the next four days,

life in Siena is all about the Palio.

For hundreds of years,

this race has settled rivalries between the city's 17 different

neighbourhoods, called contrade.

Devoted to the red and white of Giraffa contrade

is one of its proudest residents, Avio Tanganelli.

Four days to go.

Giraffa joined thousands in the central square

for the first of the Palio rituals - the horse lottery.

A ceremony when each neighbourhood is paired with its racehorse.

At 69 years old, Avio has seen Giraffa win 11 times.

Like any Palio devotee, he's studied the horses' credentials.

The next horse to be drawn is the favourite.

It goes to the Lupa contrade.

While Giraffa...

..get the outsider.

Before the main event,

six trial races give Giraffa the chance to test tactics

and get behind their horse.

Giraffa get off to a bad start.

But the trials are the chance they need to improve.

It's the night before the big race,

and the people of Giraffa are united in hope.

HE SINGS

Race day.

Each contrade traces its roots back to an ancient regiment.

Members of Giraffa's ceremonial guard don their battle dress.

Just as they've done for 700 years,

Giraffa gather in their local chapel for a blessing.

For centuries, Siena's contrade have gathered en masse

for the final ritual reckoning.

Neighbourhood supremacy is decided by a three-lap race

of just 75 seconds.

THEY BECOME SILENT

MAN GIVES INSTRUCTIONS OVER PA

Their horse is pulled up to avoid serious injury.

Giraffa's Palio is over.

Lupa take victory on the favourite.

CROWD CHEERS

Their first August Palio win for 68 years.

The shared agony of Giraffa...

..is met by the ecstasy of Lupa.

Together, they carry their winner's silk banner to Siena Cathedral.

The Palio has served its purpose.

Siena's intense rivalries are settled for another year.

And the city is once again bound together...

..by proud tradition.

For some communities...

..just coming together is a huge undertaking.

In Peru, people are divided not by rivalry

But once a year,

tens of thousands of people reunite at the highest mass gathering on

earth, for Quyllurit'i,

to honour the traditions of their Inca ancestors.

Which climaxes for some with a painful initiation...

..as they commit to their ancient clan.

Sam Vivero is joining the pilgrimage,

climbing to more than 4,500 metres under the red and black flag of his

ancestral clan, the Paucartambo.

Paucartambo is the oldest of eight Andean clans

who perform for each other in dances

that celebrate their shared community.

From the llama herders of the highlands...

..to the people of the rainforest.

Festivities continue deep into the night.

But for Sam, the main event is yet to come.

This year, he's becoming an official guardian...

..a custodian of the Paucartambo clan,

and will show his commitment in a ritual baptism.

They chew coca leaves to hold back the fatigue.

And for Sam, it will help numb the pain.

After 30 hours without sleep and in freezing temperatures,

they climb through the thin air to nearly 5,000 metres...

..to the foot of their sacred glacier.

At first light, they gather at their ancestral altar.

Part initiation, part baptism,

this ritual is rooted in Inca tradition,

but now also fused with Catholic ceremony.

In enduring the pain,

Sam will prove he's ready to be a guardian of the clan.

By coming together and sharing the rituals of Quyllurit'i,

the clans have reinforced their commitment to one another.

Around the world, we are drawn to mass gatherings.

The pagan origins of this race down Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire

aren't clear.

But this battle to catch a rolling cheese...

..draws thousands of spectators.

Sometimes it's not the history of these customs that keeps them alive,

but the chance to let off steam and have fun together.

La Tomatina in Spain dates back to a street brawl in 1945.

But it's in San Juan de la Vega, Mexico,

where people really let loose

in an explosive carnival that honours a 400-year-old skirmish

between outlaws and landowners.

They risk life and limb,

strapping home-made explosives to sledgehammers...

..in a uniquely dangerous re-enactment.

These types of rituals serve as pressure valves

that allow us to throw away our reserve...

..even in one of the most formal societies.

At first glance, the town of Xingu in Japan is ordered and restrained.

Chief Priest Uano is the head of the temple.

But for one day a year,

an ancient fire ritual of spiritual renewal

also gives some men of Xingu a chance to let off steam.

Ryo Tanaka is inscribing his wishes for the year ahead

onto a torch he will burn

during the Shinto ceremony of Oto Matsuri.

High above the town, this sacred rock is revered

as the place where the Shinto gods came to Earth.

For the 2,000 men who take part, it's a deeply religious ceremony.

But for some, there's the added honour

of being the first to deliver the sacred flame to the town below.

Last year, Ryo was the fastest.

And despite the danger, he's hoping to do it again.

It's the day of the ritual.

Ryo dresses in white to represent purity.

And he's wrapped a lucky five times around with sacred rope.

Spiritual and physical protection for the descent.

Before joining his fellow men on the streets of Xingu.

Along the way, they're offered a rice spirit

which helps build courage.

As darkness falls, more than 2,000 pilgrims

climb to the mountain shrine

to receive the divine flame from chief priest Uano.

THEY CHEER

For some, the fervour and excitement spills over.

As the sacred fire burns, the mens' wishes are delivered to the gods.

Traditionally, the descent of the flames is not a race.

But for Ryo, honour waits below.

The descent begins when the shrine gates open.

Inspired by the gods,

the bravest career down more than 500 steep steps in a mad dash.

Down in just 26 seconds, Ryo is the fastest by far,

and retains the honour of being the first to deliver

the sacred flame to Xingu, reconnecting the town to the gods.

Behind Ryo, the men create the traditional waterfall of fire.

As part of a community, we can achieve so much more.

And many mass gatherings have collaboration at their very heart.

In Catalonia, young and old team up to build astonishing human towers.

Castells began 200 years ago as street performers,

but have become defiant rituals of local identity and unity.

In Japan during Onbashira time, thousands of men work together

to haul immense logs cut from trees in a sacred mountain grove.

They're pulled ten miles to become new pillars

for the shrine at Suwa Taisha.

It's a 1,300-year-old ritual of cooperation

and demands immense courage.

But few take greater risks than the farmers of Sumba, Indonesia.

Two whole communities are pitched against one another

as men ride into ritual battle known as Pasola.

It's an ancient pact with their ancestor gods

who will guarantee a good rice harvest,

but only if human blood is spilt.

Across much of Sumba, farming is an important way of life.

So the annual harvest is a critical moment for all.

Boraduka is a local chief.

Boraduka must lead his community into combat.

Boraduka's team will face the men of Waihura Village.

Among them, his personal rival,

one of the island's great Pasola players...

..Rudibora.

Hey!

It's the day of the Pasola.

As they ride to the field of battle,

farmers become warriors,

like their ancestors before them.

The Pasola has its own unique and somewhat complicated rules.

Riders can win honour and status by spearing their opponents.

But to earn a good rice harvest,

the ancestors require that they themselves must be injured,

so the bravest players will take the biggest risks.

And today the authorities are on hand

to ensure ritual doesn't become riot.

But violence on the field is permitted.

Death in Pasola is not murder, but considered to be ritual punishment.

Under the leadership of Boraduka,

the younger riders take to the field.

And with their first charge...

..the ritual begins.

Each village mounts their attacks from opposite ends.

At the climax, it's Boraduka's turn,

with his rival Rudy already firmly in his sights.

As the tension builds, the crowd are pushed back.

Rudy's initial onslaught almost catches Boraduka.

Boraduka rides deep into the Waihura side

and right into the line of fire.

Rudy sees his chance and lines up a shot.

Boraduka has won immense honour.

But his success is bittersweet,

as he's emerged from the battle unscathed.

But by the rules of Pasola,

it's the bloodshed of the whole community that matters most.

Two villages came together with a shared purpose.

Now both can be confident

that the ancestors' spirits will honour their part of the bargain

and provide a bountiful harvest.

The biggest communities of all

are bound together by religion and shared belief.

When they converge in mass pilgrimages to their holiest sites

to connect with their faith,

these rituals become the greatest human gatherings on earth.

13 million Shia Muslims celebrate Arba'een in Iraq each year.

More than 3 million Catholics attend the Pope's services in Rome.

More than 2 million Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

And in India, more than 60 million Hindus

gathered for the last Kumbha Mela.

By expressing their faith together, devotion is amplified.

But some take it to extremes.

The annual festival of Thaipusam in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,

attracts 1 million Hindus who honour Lord Murugan, the God of war.

His followers express their devotion...

..with ritual physical ordeals.

Many carry Kavadis, symbolic burdens of up to twice their own weight.

Some even pierce their bodies with hooks.

And others with Murugan's sacred golden spear.

Rajesh Nagarethinam is awaiting his test of faith.

So I'm standing there.

When will be my time?

Rajesh has vowed to undertake a pilgrimage at Thaipusam

for the most personal of reasons.

She was suffering, I tell you now.

I come outside.

I'm just sit like how I am sitting now, you know.

In the hospital I am sitting like this, I pray to God.

There is a reason why I am carrying Kavadi.

Rajesh will be pierced through the mouth

and carry a Kavadi more than three miles.

It's the first night of Thaipusam,

and millions of Murugan's followers

are converging on his sacred shrine at the Batu Caves

in what is now the biggest Hindu festival outside of India.

Devotees like Rajesh prepare for their ritual tests of faith.

Intense drumming and euphoric chanting send them into trances.

Rajesh begins his three-mile pilgrimage.

Burdened by nearly one and a half times his body weight.

He joins a swelling tide of devotees.

Each fulfilling their own personal vows

carried on a wave of shared euphoria.

It takes Rajesh almost three hours to get to the temple entrance.

But now he faces his greatest challenge.

A climb up 272 steps to the entrance of the Batu Caves.

This is where the shared spiritual energy can help him most.

I can carry it. I can carry it.

God is there. God will bring me.

I reached to the God.

Rajesh has completed his remarkable promise to Murugan

as thanks for the safe delivery of his daughter.

A vow he will honour every year for as long as he lives.

Religious rituals have lasted and evolved over millennia.

But new rituals, too, are emerging to fulfil our need to come together.

Once a year, from across the globe,

people are drawn to a blank space on the map.

In Nevada, USA, a temporary settlement is forming.

Black Rock City is the home of Burning Man.

Coming to Burning Man, it's almost like people are their truest selves.

You know, they dance the way they want. They look the way they want.

This week-long gathering began 32 years ago with just a dozen friends.

It now draws 70,000 people.

A massive temporary community that revolves around rituals of fire.

At its centre is a giant man,

a symbolic figure which is ultimately set alight.

THEY CHEER

Many people come here seeking a sense of community

they can't find in their normal lives.

Mary Frances Moore has been making the pilgrimage to Burning Man

for five years.

If I could live here, I totally would.

I'd just bring lots of hand lotion.

Where I live, in Texas,

there is a very big expectation of looking and acting a certain way.

So, sometimes, it's important to highlight the serious nature

of the things that happen here.

Because people are really making a pilgrimage to come here.

It's not just a week-long party.

Every individual here participates

in the creation of the Burning Man society.

Black Rock City, one and a half miles across, is built from scratch.

And run by its inhabitants.

Some create the 600 bizarre mutant vehicles.

Others join crews to construct over 300 vast complex structures.

Which, since the millennium, has included a temple -

the focus for a mass healing ritual.

Could you put one right against that? Right against that.

This year David Best is in charge.

His crew of 125 volunteers includes many complete novice builders.

I never think of myself so much as the boss.

You know, I'm a coach. Everybody is responsible for this.

And that's how it gets built so miraculously,

is that everybody owns it.

Being part of a team, it's been really incredible.

And I feel really blessed to be out here.

Like, I can't believe we built this in a couple of weeks.

It's just really clear this is the hands of many.

THEY CHEER

With the crew's work complete,

the temple is open to the wider Burning Man community.

It's not a conventional sacred space.

The first thing that happens is people are in awe.

They walk into this structure that is so beautiful,

and all of a sudden they are hit with this emotional impact

of this structure that's based on grief.

MAN SINGS

Over the last 18 years, the temple has become a place

where people leave their most painful memories

in the form of pictures, stories and mementos.

This is the first time Mary Frances is leaving something in the temple.

I was in a really turbulent relationship.

So here, I'm bringing a story of us that I wrote,

I'm leaving it in the temple.

Because I want to leave behind

the part of myself that thought it was OK to be treated that way.

I think that collective sharing of grief

is probably the most unique thing in the temple.

When I sat down, and I just tried to think about myself,

that's when things really started to flow,

and I could feel a lot coming up.

So I think the thing that I had lost for so long is finally coming back.

And it feels good.

This Burning Man thing can be really dumb, you know.

And the temple can be really dumb,

it could be California feel your pain hippy bullshit.

But I'll suffer that embarrassment...

..for that one person who gets healed.

As dusk approaches,

Mary Frances gets ready to make her own contribution to the community.

Via a daily ritual as a Lamplighter.

A team of volunteers who prepare a thousand kerosene lanterns...

..and ceremonially light all the major routes across Black Rock City.

Being a Lamplighter gives me that sense of being a part of something

greater than myself,

which is what I was looking for when I came to Burning Man.

Citizens of Black Rock City.

We are your Lamplighters.

PEOPLE CHEER

We offer three gifts.

The first gift is illumination.

CHEERING

The second gift is navigation.

CHEERING

And the third gift is celebration.

CHEERING

Make way for your Lamplighters.

I just like the fact that I end at temple.

That my ritual as a Lamplighter

is being met with the ritual of the temple.

I am Burning Man.

And I'm giving back to something that's giving me so much.

Let's light this city!

CHEERING

ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

At its climax, Burning Man becomes a carnival of fire.

After days of being at the centre of everything...

..the man is set ablaze, a ritual burning of the old self.

Making way for renewal.

Ultimately, Black Rock City will leave no trace in the desert.

The temple will be the final structure to be set alight.

You can't erase the reality, but you can change it.

If you put that stuff in the temple, I'll burn it.

And it won't come back unless you bring it back.

On the last night,

the Burning Man community gathers in a ceremony of release and rebirth.

At the heart of the matter, we're all exactly the same.

We're all part of this thing called life.

We're constantly forging new rituals

to become the traditions of the future.

As individuals, it seems,

we need these great rituals to draw us together.

To keep our communities alive.

And to find out where we belong.

Next time, the traditional rituals

we're adapting to our changing world.

In Senegal, a wrestler uses ancient rituals to win in the modern arena.

In Greenland, a boy clings to his ancestral rite of passage

in a melting world.

And in Australia, the oldest customs on Earth

help fight today's massive wildfires.

Are rituals integral to being human?

What's gained through rituals, or lost by neglecting them?

The conversation continues with the Open University.

Go to the address below and follow the links to the Open University.