the Rami tribe are the only people on
Earth Who tattoo their entire bodies in
God's name it's a fascinating and dying
tradition so I came all the way to rural
India to uncover the truth behind the
ink Ram is everywhere ram ram ram ram
ram ram ram ram ram R here in the Indian
state of chades gar a mysterious tribe
worships the Hindu god Rah which is a
name printed on their skin their clothes
and what they chant all day
long I'm traveling with my Indian friend
gatam and we arrived in the middle of
the night into the hands of a chaotic
driver we just left the airport off into
the
unknown we went from airport to Rural
Road in about 10 minutes quick update
our our driver is driving like an
absolute animal like speeding over these
speed bumps we're flying out here in the
back seat I also don't think he knows
like exactly where we're going he's
driving against the traffic he's driving
into like freeway incoming traffic and
we almost just had a head- on collision
if he would have kept going it's all
part of the adventure we just pulled
over on the side of the road here
something I've been noticing out the
window is that none of the signs are in
English and all over India you find
English signs but we are out here in the
wow wow West y look at his car what the
the alarm's going out in the
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car we are in a very mysterious dirt
road I was out hard man well we made it
this place is so wild so rugged I mean
there's nothing out here a little guest
house really got to get some rest I'm
exhausted but so excited to meet the
tribe tomorrow and just check out this
place so the pillar here is really dirty
so there's a travel hack for this
basically you just take a shirt then you
basically use that as a pillowcase boom
perfect it is time for bed and there are
so many bugs in here that I have these
Indian style pants on and I actually
tucked my socks over them I'm going to
sleep with my with my jacket on even
though it is so hot and sweaty in here
but I can't deal with bugs this is about
as basic as an accommodation can get but
I love it there's a mysterious piece of
poop on the bed
right there pretty gross all right
guys man I only got a few bug bites not
too bad at some point the AC turned off
and it became extremely hot in here it's
a really still morning out here and
their ROM tattoos are shining bright I'm
just amazed by their warm smiles and
hospitality and I just got word that
there's a beautiful Lake a few steps
away first thing to do in the morning is
take a bath in in the nearby lake so
basically they walk here they soap
themselves
up this Society all started because of
one man in the 1890s a farmer named
parasuram was the first to tattoo RAM on
his forehead he did this as an act of
defiance after being denied entry into a
temple because he was in the lower class
even today upper class Hindus who use
different names for God struggle to
understand this tribe which has only a
few thousand members left these days
less and less descendants are taking
their tattoos to the extreme before we
enter the house we have to make an
offering to these guys and then we enter
and then they start the prayers the pon
so give the offering tell them our name
and why we're here exactly yeah and ram
ram
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yeah
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so pure and
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beautiful can I ask you like at what age
did you start getting the the
tattoos she said she had the first mon
on her hand when she was 15 and then the
rest of it on her face and body when she
was 32 oh I'm 32 and when you were my
age you had all of the face done at
once
but in one day the whole thing yeah and
she had no pain while doing it at all
and he he explained that it's because
it's done in the spiritual thing so it's
done the devotion so that's why she
didn't feel like p i got this uh in the
Philippines I got this tattoo like the
same method but this was really
painful so they just served breakfast
here it's chipati rice doll and
vegetables
withw actually looks really tasty and
this is how they eat in the Rami
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tribe
USA Bombay they have such like a calming
look just very gentle people him right
his eyes are just very like friendly
very friendly and warm crazy to think
that a few days ago we were in the zero
Valley with the aani tribe and we're in
the same country right now sitting next
to a completely different group of
people nothing about this experience is
similar to the other
one I did thumbs up and he he understood
it as drinking alcohol how do you do
okay okay can I do this time just a head
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no guy just ate so much food and now we
just passed out just just enjoying
life all you really have to know is two
words ram ram really one word it means
hello goodbye how are you thank you it's
all the
above the dedication that they have for
God and and to really idolize him and
respect
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him this man is the last guy to have his
full body tattooed from head to toe even
his ears every single part of his body
the top of his head there have been many
more in the past even with tongue tats
but they've all passed away so this guy
right here is the last one standing that
is fully tatted it's refreshing to see
the Rami is not on their phones
just hanging out sitting down having a
chat having a chai like the world that
we live in is so globalized and
everyone's on their phones 24/7 but here
just sitting and laughing and enjoying
conversation do you have a ram tattoo
yes I have a small one only a small one
yes why not the fth one the Young
Generation people is going for the job
or anything the government job services
anything so not doing the all body
tattoos or all face tattoos is uh just
uh taking the small one tattoos how many
people have the face at here 20 30 only
30 people only yes in your face but Ram
Nami is 150 around actually I am taking
the small one tattoo but I am a ram Nami
Ram is everywhere the trees you me the
water Sun everything is R yes everything
is Ram he is Ram yes the Lord Ram you're
Ram what's up my name is Ram yes the ram
is living with her because the Rami are
purist and they don't eat any animals
you see the animals just wandering
around cows just coming up here drinking
water outside the village we stumbled
Upon A ramn Nami Cemetery here I can't
read Hindi but I can read enough to know
that it says the same thing which is ram
ram ramam this is the ram Nam is GRA
there one person in there is the lady
lady yes do you guys remember when I
told you about magic the free AI travel
assistant that helps with planning trips
and booking hotels well it's been so
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can all travel more efficiently magic
just put out a huge update that adds
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filters for hotels where you can ask for
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and Magic will pop up the best ones that
fit within that criteria it could be
hotels near a pickle ball cord or hotels
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planning what to do where to eat and
what to see is even easier now because
magic takes you through it step by step
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everything into an organized itinerary
for you automatically there's a lot more
that I didn't mention so if you have a
trip in mind or one that you're planning
you can head the Magic in the link in
the description down below and try it
out for yourself all right now let's
head back to the tattoo tribe
r r r r r it's never been so easy to
communicate with anyone before you just
say rum rum R they repeat it back and
you're in a mutual understanding do you
hope to get more tattoos to fill up your
sleeve Pana Pana okay he said yeah he
wants to get uh the tattoos done yeah
I'm going to be spending the night here
tonight so would you mind uh getting the
tattoo later so we can experience it
together yeah you can see yeah yeah you
can have a look yeah all right we have
hopped on the motorbike here we're
heading to this guy's house he has
invited us over for some chai and uh
friendly hangout sesh ram ram I haven't
really traveled India except for this
trip in many many years so there's a
different world out here I just noticed
that the top of his head is even
tattooed with r r that's so cool we have
made it to his house you really feel
like you're traveling somewhere when you
get invited into a Local's house and see
how they
live one room there where he sleeps now
we're heading out to where he plants his
vegetables as well as the Lattin that's
outside too the bathroom just has two
water spets off the wall outdoor
bathroom got to love it people pay big
money for outdoor bathrooms these days
he has a very large stick and he's
getting mangoes down from this
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tree
mango here's the mango from the
tree really ripe and fresh oh man pay a
lot of money to get this in the US
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I've never seen this gr before but they
just got it down from the tree
interesting can you tell me a little bit
about your
religion is saying a lot of it is to do
with like B and the songs that you heard
yesterday and the prayer can you talk
talk about when you got your tattoos
what was the experience
like it was happy it was life when you
were younger what was your your job or
how did you spend your time here in the
village Farming Farming rice
and you have any
kids two two sons and one daughter are
they are they here in the
house I really want to pick the son's
brain because I know there's a
generational disconnect that is Central
to this community so how come you don't
have any tattoos got any he has one he
has one yeah so the younger generation
they just have just here just to show
the dedication did you ever feel
pressured to get the tattoos on your
face or you just didn't want to do
it no no one press no PR no it's their
choice what do you think about your your
dad he's got the face T I mean is it
something that you're proud of or
something that you wish you had
or he's happy I mean he's saying it's
his choice and he's done it do you also
pray and do the same rituals as much as
him or are you more rebellious
everything else follows the tradition
including the prayers and everything
else if you could say one message to
everybody in the
world what would you tell
them he wants to tell the world about
Rah and that they should pray and you
know he wishes they understood about Rah
as well pambar invites us to watch him
get more tattoos to cover his whole body
the ritual kicks off with the great
pilgrimage across the village Village to
the temple where they will then make
offerings to Rah before giving
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tattoos it's cool that the other people
that we're seeing in the community also
say ram
ram even if they don't have tattoos or
even if they're younger they still greet
you with ram ram so bizarre being out
here walking with them going down to
wherever it's almost an body experience
to be here and the culture witness their
amazing Traditions that gone back
hundreds of years we had made it to the
white temple here it looks like the
candle sticking out of the ground and it
just has Ram ROM ROM written all over
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it so right now they've all gathered and
they're sitting at the temple and
they're doing a ceremony they're going
to give some
tattoos
saying that there's two nles one that
they've used before to write on a few
times and one is a brand new one and
they're going to join it
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together the chanting is working we are
all feeling the energy of Rah my new
friend is moments away from imprinting
himself with what he believes is the
most sacred name in the
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universe the tattooing is basically they
draw it with the charcoal mixed with
water then they just take the spine
needle and just pushes it little by
little into his skin this kind of hand
pooke tattooing is extremely painful I
cannot imagine getting tattooed under so
much pressure with everyone chanting
God's name as it is carved out of skin
and
blood
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the ritual is complete but the
celebration of Rah is far from
over as the sun goes down the tribe
gathers by the water for a bonfire where
they intend to sing praises and dance
the night away
r
[Applause]
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I've met dozens of tribes around the
world from Surinam to South Sudan but
I've never witnessed a group of people
who are so committed to their God that
they tattoo his name all over their
bodies if you enjoyed this glimpse of
the people and rituals in central India
then hit that subscribe button because I
have so many more tribal stories coming
your way I'll see you guys next
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week