Why Are These Babies Being Tossed Off a Temple Roof?

This is no exhibition like that of the late Michael Jackson dangling his son "Blanket" over a ledge in 2002 for everyone to get a good look. These Hindu priests are not only dangling but they're dropping toddlers from a temple roof.

Australia's The Age explains that the centuries old ritual taking place in Karnataka, India, has babies between a few months and 2 years old being dropped onto a cloth sheet held by men down below. It is a practice believed to make them stronger.

Here is raw footage of the event:

This practice has come into criticism before. In 2009, the Associated Press reported a representative from an Indian activist group calling on the administration to end it. The group also noted that it shows a lack of access to acceptable healthcare, given that it "forces people to behave in this irrational manner."

Amazingly, in the recent footage caught of the ritual, the babies aren't even crying. They look stunned more than anything.