Even today, wrestlers scatter a handful of salt to purify the ring and clap their hands to call the gods before every match.

CNN: Wrestle Mania

Strangers rise to their feet and clap their hands.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

People had turned up in at least eight different parts of Minsk in response to calls on social networking sites for demonstrations at which protesters clap their hands but are otherwise silent.

BBC: Hundreds arrested in Belarus at anti-Lukashenko rallies