Colorful Religious Festivals

Pig of God Festival, Taiwan
Each September, in defiance of Taiwanese authorities and animal rights activists, Taiwan's Hakka ethnic group in the Hsinchu County weighs hundreds of pigs, slaughtering and consuming the heftiest one in honor of their martyrs. The practice made headlines in 2007, when the world's heaviest pig was killed as part of the ceremony. The record was a dubious one, however — the pig was force-fed sand and metal to increase its heft before slaughter, a common practice before the holiday.

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