Special Hindu Festival
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 1/20/2011
Malaysian Hindus do bloody penance at festival
More than one million Hindu devotees flocked to a Malaysian cave temple Thursday to mark a colourful Hindu festival during which they pierce themselves with hooks and skewers.
The worshippers converged on the Batu Caves temple, a spectacular limestone cavern on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and the centrepiece of the annual three-day Thaipusam festival of thanksgiving and penance.
Thaipusam commemorates the day when the Hindu Goddess Pavarthi gave her son Lord Muruga an invincible lance with which he destroyed evil demons.
Devotees do penance by carrying heavy ornate structures called kavadis as they walk barefoot up 272 steps to the Batu Caves temple, while others have their tongues, cheeks and backs pierced with hooks and skewers.
Prime Minister Najib Razak hailed the festival, which also draws many tourists every year, as a celebration of Malaysia’s multiculturalism.
“Hindu devotees from overseas as well as tourists come here to appreciate the wonderful diversity of our culture and the openness in which many different faiths are expressed and practiced,” Najib wrote on his blog.
The festival is also celebrated in several other parts of Muslim-majority Malaysia. Ethnic Indians, most of whom are Hindus but also include Christians and Sikhs, make up less than 10 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million population.
Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4589607
The Hindu god Ganesha. Click on image to enlarge or click here for more beautiful thangkas.
Brahma, the Hindu God of creation and Dorje Shugden. Click on image to enlarge or click here for more beautiful thangkas.
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Thaipusam is a Tamil Hindu festival celebrated on the first full moon day of the Tamil month. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Hindu God Murugan over the demon Surapadman. The festival commemorates the triumph of good over evil by many devotees throughout Malaysia. For Hindus, Thaipusam is a day to cleanse oneself of sins and to repent for any transgressions in the past year.Devotees place a great deal of emphasis on the Vel. Silver, gold, lead, copper, and iron which is the five metals. It is said to be able to absorb all negative energy, spread positivity, and destroy all dangerous energies. Wearing yellow during Thaipusam as Lord Murugan’s favourite colour. Well Yellow is also associated with new beginnings, peace and happiness. On that day many devotees will be wearing yellow in color. Devotees will carry heavy ornate structures called kavadis while others have their tongues, cheeks and backs pierced with hooks and skewers. They then walk barefoot up 272 steps to the Batu Caves temple. Women devotees will carry the milk pots on that day. Thousands of locals and tourist from around the world of different faith will be there to witness this auspicious festival.
THank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Malaysia is a multiracial country that yields a rich mix of cultural attractions .It’s also a great place to experience various cultures, unique festivals, colourful markets, and atmospheric sites. For the Hindu community in Malaysia, Thaipusam is one of the most important religious festivals of the year. Dedicated to Lord Murugan, Thaipusam is a time when worshippers seek repentance. Penance can be witnessed through acts of self-mortification in an elaborate ceremony, where men bear the kavadi, while women carry the milk pots. Thaipusam is a key Hindu ceremony that is held each year during the full moon in the tenth month of the Hindu calendar. A beautiful story behind this festival, celebrated in honour of Lord Murugan the destroyer of evil who represents virtue, youth and power. Dedicated to Lord Murugan, Thaipusam is a time when worshippers seek repentance. Penance can be witnessed through acts of self-mortification in an elaborate ceremony. A day of penance and thanks-giving, where men bear the kavadis, while women carry the milk pots. Thousands of devotees will be there yearly for this festival and many tourist from around the world too come to witness this very special event .
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Brings back many old memories of this special hindu festival of “Thaipusam” when my dad would bring me to see the devotees in trance carrying beautiful designs of kavadis on the streets every year. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for this simple and nice article???
The majority of Indians in Malaysia are Hindus, Thaipusam is their celebration and their very distinctive culture. Every Thaipusam, more than 300 000 to 400 000 Hindus gathered together at the Batu Caves to celebrate this auspicious event. So during this festival, they make wishes and will return at the next Thaipusam to repay their respect. Some will shave off their hair to repay the kindness, some will piercing themselves, this is one of their beautiful festival and it is very meaningful to understand other people culture and i enjoy it very much , thank you , wong kok thai
This Hindu Festival Day is called Thaipusam Day in Malaysia. In the earlier years when Malaysia have not gazetted Thaipusam Day as a public holiday, there were not so much people going to the cave temple called Batu Caves. But nowadays there are so many people including tourists visit and participate in the cultural event. This is a day of penance for the Hindu devotees when they pierce themselves and carrying Kavadi up to Lord Muruga. Before a devotee can pierce themselves and carry the Kevadi they must purify themselves taking strict vegetarian diet. We are lucky Malaysia is a multiracial country and get to experience the culture and faiths of the different races.
Malaysia, popularly known as a country of multiculturalism, had a large convergence of worshippers of Hindu faith at Batu Caves Temple on 20th Jan.2011 for a 3 day Thaipusam festival. A yearly affair, as many as one million Hindu devotees joined by tourists from the world over, would assemble at the 272 steps cavern temple and walk bare-footed up the steps in fullfilment of their thanksgiving appreciation and penance. Some would carry “kavadis” a heavy ornate structure, and many others with their tongues, cheeks and backs skewered, form part of the assembly of worshippers. Thaipusam festival celebrations were carried out also in some other major towns, and a commonly crowd puller of tourist from other countries.
I feel sorry for the fellow in the last photograph – looks like he’s being used as a knitting-needle rack, although judging by his expression, he doesn’t looked too bothered at all; looks like he’s just waiting for a bus. I only hope there were no cruel kids around with magnets…
I really love the photographers in the photo. They seem to be engrossed in something other than the hole-y chap (sorry…couldn’t resist). I’d love to know what it was that was more captivating!
Kind regards,
Sandy