The intense Ashura festival, celebrated by Shia Muslims, sees devotees cut and whip themselves in India.

Filmed on September 10, the footage shows numerous men repetitively whipping their own backs to mourn the death of Imam Hussain, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

A mood of mourning pervaded in the old city of Hyderabad as "Yaum-e-Ashura" was observed on Tuesday with solemnity and somberness.It was all black and blood during the historic "Bibi-ka-Alam", the traditional mourning procession by Shias."Yaum-e-Ashura" or the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of Islamic calendar, is observed in memory of the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussain and his followers at the battle of Karbala.With the processions, mourning and other rituals, people remember the great sacrifices of Imam Hussain and his followers who refused to bow to despotic and tyrannical authority.

The traditional "Bibi-ka-Alam" procession in the old city of Hyderabad passed off peacefully amid tight security arrangements. Blood oozed out from the heads and chests of hundreds of bare-chested Shia mourners who flagellated themselves with sharp-edged objects.

Amid cries of "Ya Hussain" and recitation of marsiyas (elegies) and noha-khwani (poems expressing sorrow), various groups of barefoot youths using knives, blade-encrusted chains and other sharp-edged weapons, inflicted injuries on themselves to show solidarity with the sufferings of the martyrs. Others were seen weeping and beating their chests.

The massive procession began in the afternoon from "Bibi Ka alawa" in Dabeerpura with the "alam" or insignia of the martyrs kept on a decorated elephant.The "Bibi ka alam" is believed to contain a piece of wooden plank on which Bibi Fatima Zehra, daughter of Prophet Mohammed, was given the final ablution.The "alam" was installed over 430 years ago during the Qutub Shahi period.The procession passed through various parts of the old city including historic Charminar and thousands of people, irrespective of religion and caste, stood along the roads to pay their respects.