Tomorrow, Thaipusam, a festival celebrated by Tamil Hindus, will be celebrated. Becasue I will be out of town visiting Taman Negara (a rainforest national park- details to follow), I will report on Thaipusam before I go.
Thaipusam is an important holiday for Tamil Hindus living in Malaysia. Huge crowds of Hindus, and onlookers, are expected to gather at Batu Caves in KL to celebrate this festival. I have seen estimates ranging from 800,000 to 1.3 million people visiting Batu Caves on Thaipusam (thats a lot of people!!!). Many of them will make a 15 km journey from a Hindu temple in KL to Batu Caves.
According to Wikipedia,
"On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.
"The simplest kavadi is a semicircular decorated canopy supported by a wooden rod that is carried on the shoulders, to the temple. In addition, some have a small spear through their tongue, or a spear through the cheeks. The spear pierced through his tongue or cheeks reminds him constantly of Lord Murugan. It also prevents him from speaking and gives great power of endurance. Other types of kavadi involve hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or more recently a tractor, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit."
I don't know whether people with sticks and hooks in them represents the norm or just an especially zealous few.
Thaipusam activities are already underway. Last week there were photos of the crush of vendors trying to sign up for stalls at Batu Caves. Worshipers that are trying to avoid the crush of people on Thursday have already started visiting Batu Caves by the thousands.
Happy Thaipusam!
Photos from http://www.healthline.com and Wikipedia.
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