INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesThousands of near-naked men seeking luck have scrambled to find two sacred sticks as part of an ancient Japanese
festival.It's thought about 10,000 men wearing white loincloths took part in the ceremony at the Kinryozan Saidaiji Buddhist temple in
Okayama on Saturday.Participants were purified in water before scrambling to find sticks that had been thrown into the crowd.Those who found
the 20cm-long sticks, called "shingi", are believed to be the luckiest men of the year.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
The annual festival has been happening for 510 years
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
The
men are purified in cold water before the hunt for the shingi begins
This was the 510th anniversary of the Saidaiji-eyo
festival, which dates back to the Muromachi period of Japanese history.It kicked off with the thousands of participants bathing in cold
water in the Yoshii river, in order to purify them before they hunted for the shingi.Then at about 22:00, once the purification stage was
complete, the lights were turned off.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Participants are purified in frigid waters
of the Yoshii river
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
The men who find the two sticks are thought
to be the luckiest of the year
The temple's chief priest stood at a window four metres high and threw the two shingi into
the crowd.A mass jostle ensued and for the following two hours the crowd of men pushed and felt around for the sacred sticks.The pair who
left the temple grounds holding the sticks were crowned the lucky winners.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Loincloths are a must
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Thousands of people come to watch the men
hunt for the Shingi
Saidaiji-eye is one of the highlights of the Japanese traditional festival calendar.Aside from the luck
the shingi bring, it is also a fertility festival that is thought to bring good harvests in for the rest of the year.It usually falls at
about the same time as the Lunar New Year.Thousands of other people go to the temple to light lanterns, and watch the men compete for the
shingi.All pictures copyright
