HAPPY THAIPUSAM!!!!!

HAPPY THAIPUSAM

TO ALL

HINDU DEVOTEES!!!

During the Thaipusam festival, Batu Caves hosts the largest gathering of Hindu devotees in Malaysia. Thaipusam is a religious festival where Hindus pay annual homage to Lord Murugan (also known as Lord Subramaniam). The highlight of this celebration is the kavadi procession. Close to 800,000 people throng Batu Caves for this celebration.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon (January/February). The festival is also referred to as Thaipooyam or Thaippooyam in the Malayalam language. The word Thaipusam is derived from the month name Thai and Pusam, which refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates the occasion when Goddess Parvati gave her son Lord Murugan a vel (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Murugan, the Tamil God of War. Devotees prepare for the celebration by cleansing themselves through prayer and fasting approximately 48 days before Thaipusam. Kavadi-bearers have to perform elaborate ceremonies at the time of assuming the kavadi and at the time of offering it to Lord Murugan. The kavadi-bearer observes celibacy and take only pure, Satvik food, once a day, while continuously thinking of God.

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.