Malaysia Truly Asia: Thaipusam

I learned about Thaipusam in the first couple of weeks of living in Malaysia after seeing postcards at a local office supply store of devotees making their pilgrimage to the Batu Caves.  The pictures were enough for me to think, "Ok, I'm pretty sure I never want to witness that festival in person."  However, three years later I changed my mind and decided to see it for myself.

Have I piqued your curiosity?

Thaipusam is a festival celebrated by Hindus of the Tamil decent.  Each year on the full moon day of the Tamil month (either January or February) devotees of Lord Murugan typically dress in yellow or orange and bare offerings such as milk, fruit, flowers, or large, heavy structures on their shoulders, called kavadi, up to the temples. Many will take it a step further and pierce and skewer their bodies, as well as drag chariots that are literally hooked into their skin.  Fair warning, there are photos later in the post.

We new we had to try and avoid the masses (they were projecting around 1.5 million devotees and tourists), so we got on the train close to 7:30am and it was already packed. Thankfully I was in a location that didn't have me pressed up against another person, and was right next to the doors witch offered a nice blast of fresh-ish air at every stop.  Even though we didn't think another person could squeeze themselves on, at each stop someone would force themselves in before the doors closed.

Once we arrived, the festival is a complete assault to the senses.  The sounds, smells, and sights were enough of a bombardment, but add the heat and the mass of people and I knew we wouldn't stay too long.

To begin with there are plenty of shops selling items such as jewelry, bags, clothing, peacock feathers, and flower garlands.

You could get a tatoo or henna, if you were desiring something less permanent.

But almost every single tent played music and every single tent wanted their music to be the one heard. I wish I had taken a video of this stretch of the festival for the audio alone.

There were many food stalls selling all sorts of Indian delicacies; both savory and sweet.

However, it was the procession of devotees we were truly there to see.

Some devotees start their procession at the Sri Mahamariamman temple in Kuala Lumpur.

Carrying their offerings, they walk the distance to the Batu Caves, past the towering gold statue of Lord Murugan, and up the 272 stairs to the temples up at the top.

As spectators, you can climb the stairs and follow the procession to the temples, but we had no interest in following the crowds.  (If you want to see the inside of the caves you can look back at the post of our visit to the Batu Caves here.)

There were areas where people were shaving heads and applying the sacred ash to their freshly shaved skin.

If only carrying milk like the gentleman below, the devotee seemed fairly lucid.

However, when carrying the kavadi or enduring some sort of body piercing, the devotee was in what we are told is a trance-like state.  Many were dancing and spinning around with accompanying drumming and chanting while also having guides to aid in their procession.

The kavadi varied in size and shape, but seemed to always have peacock feathers in its design.

This man gave me a bit of a shock after he walked past.

This next picture I thankfully didn't witness for myself.  Our group split up in the end to head back home and my friend Kelly took this photo of the man dragging the large chariot.  I'm not really sure what he does once he drags it to the steps, but I am certain I would not have been watching.

In the end we couldn't take the train back home because hundreds of people were trying to get on the platform.  After a bit of a walk from all of the festivites and a call for an Uber, we were able to escape the masses.

This was the great group of friends who all decided to be spectators of this festival after three years of living in KL.  I am glad I went once, but I think we all decided that once was enough.