Last month I was able to experience, Thaipusam, this is a
very unique and important festival to the Hindu community in Singapore. The name comes from, “Thai” which is the
first month of the Tamil calendar, and “Pusam” is a constellation that happens
around the first full moon of the year.
There are only a few places in the world that celebrate this
festival. Singapore and Malaysia happen
to be two countries that allow this celebration to take place. India does not acknowledge this festival due
to restrictions in the country.
Thaipusam gives the Hindu worshipers a chance to show their devotion and
penance. They do this by carrying a
burden, known as a kavadi, four and a half kilometers, from Sri Srinivasa
Perumal temple to Sri Thendayuthapani Temple.
Thaipusam is most popular for the burdens that the devotees choose to wear
and endure. Most worshipers will pierce
their body with skewers that support large alters, decorated with peacock
feathers. A few will actually attach
hooks to their backs and pull chariots. Men might also wear shoes that have nails sticking straight up into their foot. Some
of these kavadis can weigh up to 100 pounds and normally it would only take 45
minutes to complete this trip. The
participants carrying the kavadis will take 4-5 hours to complete this walk to show
their ultimate devotion. They stop along
the route and jiggle their kavadis which puts even more pressure on their
bodies. This is referred to as “the
dance of the peacock.” The women will
carry milk jugs due to the association with the sacred cow. Some men will even pierce their back and
chest with hooks and carry numerous milk jugs.
Seeing this festival first-hand was pretty spectacular. It is unlike anything you will see in your whole life. These men go to great lengths both physically and mentally to complete this procession. When they near the end of the journey, the line is very long to enter the temple. They have to wait even longer to remove their kavadis. It was a very hot day too so that just added on to all the hardships the worshipers encounter to show their ultimate devotion.
Here is a video of the "Peacock Dance." Lots of people made it hard to get a good view.
Here are some of the good pictures I was able to get admist all the crowds.
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| Devotee getting pierced |
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Here is a shot of the shoes with nails sticking up (right)
Milk jugs that will hang from piercings (left) |
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| Kavadi |
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| Preparations and offerings being made for the procession |
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| Here is a shot of milk jugs that participants carry. They hang from hooks that are pierced in the skin. |
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| Woman carrying milk jug |
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| Sri Thendayuthapani Temple. Ending point of procession. |
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| This is a good shot that shows piercings in the skin |
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| Very tall kavadi |
