>>23633971No it wasn't. India has always been known as a backwards hellhole
AHEM
>This Idol always remains in the house [temple]. But once in the year it is taken and placed on a great and splendid chariot. And the King, and the Queen, and all the people drag it forth from the church with the greatest singing, and every kind of musical instrument.And the Idol is carried through the city in this manner. And many who come to this feast cast themselves under that chariot, so that the wheels may pass over them, saying that they wish to die for their God.
And thus they die, and they are buried by their companions; and they are reputed to be saints by all.
Friar Odoric, on the Jugganath Festival, 1321 AD