But in this most sacred rite of Sioux piercing temporarily. Religious and mystical piercing of this type is very common, in India, Ceylon, and Malaysia, some Indians participating in the festival Thaipusan pierce their bodies with multiple hooks and needles, often attaching to them heavy weight. Some horizontal pull the thread tied to the hooks, and passed under the skin of the legs and back. Puncture and the pain is a necessary factor in the religious rituals of atonement. Wandering holy men of India, "Sadhu" practice self-punishing rituals of austerity.

These devout Hindu "people of God" may be having a weight of punctures for life, to endure these self-imposed tests of physical pain as a penance, because they reach a trance-like states, which allow them to come into direct contact with the Gods. This is called the Hindu discipline of tapas: this "sadhu" receive spiritual strength and superiority through their trials and it brings them closer to the Absolute, to Nirvana.