[CarrotAndStick]

Christ doesn't advocate self-mutilation.

But:

http://www.abcmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/tpusam_pnance.htm

Hinduism advocates that the body should not be harmed as the body is akin to a temple that the soul resides in. Some devotees however, choose to believe that the only way to salvation is to endure a penance of pain and hardship. However, they are able to tolerate this ordeal of pain as they are in a trance-like state. There is no blood and they prepare themselves for this by undergoing specific rites during the preceding month.

BTW, this practice is banned in India, and the main article states it.

[WorkingClassFilth]

The wickedly Christian British did a fine job eliminating nasty little things like that. Cremating the wife alive when the old man croaked was another sweetness that'll probably be on the return soon.