“Experiencing the festival of Thaipusam”… Yes!! Another travel wish come true. A few years ago, upon doing some research on my travel destination Malaysia, this festival had spiked my interest. I was quite upset when I found out I was just a few weeks late for one of the country’s biggest cultural/religious festivals. Six years later, I was pressed against strangers on a train to Batu Caves where Thaipusam was taking place.
Upon arrival I was overwhelmed by strong smells of fried spices, Indian tunes blasting from every stall and an overly excited crowd. I threw myself into the mass to get as close to the action as I possibly could. It was steaming hot and slightly claustrophobic at times, but it was an experience I will never forget.
Thaipusam is a Tamil celebration of faith and gratitude which takes place every year between January 15th an February 15th. It’s the commemoration of the occasion where Hindu goddess ‘Parvati’ gave ‘Murugan’, god of war, a “vel” (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon ‘Soorapadman’. Devotees make a vow to offer a “kavadi” i.e a physical burden, to request a favour from the god Murugan. The participants then start their journeys 48 days before Thaipusam by ‘cleansing’ themselves through fasting, praying and observing celibacy. On the eve of the big day, devotees carrying their kavadi, start their 15km pilgrimage- in this case from the main temple in the centre of Kuala Lumpur to the Batu Caves. The intensity of the kavadi ranges from carrying jugs of milk (symbol of purity and virtue) to followers taking a vow of sacrifice at every step by piercing their skins with hooks and spears.
Most of them bring along some kind of an entourage playing music, singing and encouraging them by repeatedly shouting the words “vel vel!” in a trance-like way.
Though it’s less common, women and children also take part in the procession. Most of them carry milk, but every now and then you can spot a few of them enduring the pain.
The participants numb their pain with natural herbs and consecrated ashes, moreover helping them to reach a state of trance.
A strange mix of suffering, exhaustion, pleasure, trance, curiosity and spiritual bliss come together to form a peculiar and intense atmosphere during the procession.
The final sacrificial act of faith is for devotees to climb up a 272 step stairway to deliver their offerings in the Batu Caves temple.
Once inside the caves, the milk is offered and the hooks are taken down. Consecrated ash is sprinkled over the devotees’ hooks and piercing before they are removed. No blood is shed during the piercing and removal.
TIPS
Leave your “germophobia” at home. If you want to get a sense of what’s going on, you’ll be close to people. Very close. You’ll be covered in sweat and I guarantee you it won’t necessarily be yours.
To get to the Batu Caves, take the KTM. It’s not a good idea to take a car or a taxi. Unless you just love traffic jams.
The procession goes on all throughout the day. However, it’s best to get an early start as it can get pretty hot during the day; 8.30-9.00AM is a good time to arrive.
In order to get some good pictures, start at the road, where devotees begin the last leg of their journeys. Then slowly make your way to the entrance of the caves.
You can climb up the steps with the devotees and enter the caves, but beware, this can be a long process. Unless you’ve never been in the Batu Caves, there not really much to see inside except… People… Oceans of people!
Once you’re ready to leave the scene, don’t take the KTM back. There is a long queue to enter the train which will be over packed. Instead catch a bus going direction ‘town’.
Would you consider going to a crowed cultural festival like Thaipusam?
Comments
24 responses to “Spiritual Tourism: Thaipusam 2014”
Beautiful and interesting photos but ouch!
Yes, I think a big fat “ouch” is on order here
Just added something new to my bucket list. The photos are beautiful, although I also agree my stomach did a little flip at the ones with the hooks in the back. Still looks like an interesting cultural experience!
Thanks Jessie! Surprisingly enough, the hooks looked less painful in ‘real life’… Maybe the music, dancing and singing softened the deal.
AMAZING! Sarah, you have the most adventurous blog posts!
Thank you so much Karisa!
Oh man, oh man! This is definitely something I’d love to see for myself someday. Malaysia is high on my list. I wonder how they avoid shedding blood during this ceremony. I have to say, you’ve been everywhere and have seen everything, Sarah! Love it!
Luckily, I really haven’t been everywhere or seen everything yet! So much more to discover
About the bleeding: it’s not quite clear why there’s no bloodshed, but it is said that if you bleed, then your penances of the days prior were incorrect… So the mystery remains…
Wow, this sounds like an unreal experience. Your photos of it are gorgeous, and pretty intense!
Thanks Sylvia!
I have done many Hindu festivals while travelling in India but this one surely one of most ‘out of this world’ and interesting ones I have experienced so far.
(Also, there in Malaysia, nobody was grabbing my ass or touching my skin… something that happens constantly in those crowded Indian festivals. )
Spiritual? … maybe… I do still sing the ‘Vel Vel” and hear the catchy drums in my sleep… and under the shower…
I agree, the big difference between a Hindu festival in India and one in Malaysia is definitely the touching and staring. Huge difference!
WOW – and OUCH! It’s very interesting that it’s called spiritual tourism. I just finished a guest post about experiencing different kinds of spiritualities while travelling, but I didn’t know it had a name!
Thanks for sharing, Sarah.
I’m not sure if spiritual tourism is an actual thing, it just felt like that’s what we were doing.
I’d be interested in reading your piece about the spiritualities!
Oh my goodness all of that looks painful :O
I don’t think I would care to try either!
It looks both super painful and super intriguing. I love to discover such cultural and religious differences! I have actually seen some pictures from Myanmar with very similar customs.
I had no idea Myanmar had similar customs. I’m not really surprised though, there are so many interesting practices in the area.
Visited Batu Caves a few years ago and at the time it felt the furthest thing from a spiritual experience as it was just run over by tourists, but what you had is quite a different experience and now makes me look at the entire place differently. This picture of the people streaming up the steps is something else, great post!
Thanks! I went to Batu Caves as well on a regular day and I agree, it wasn’t oozing much spirituality. More like a low-key, chill family day out type of place. But during Thaipusam… WOW! I’ll never look at Batu Caves the same.
Beautiful photos. Would love to travel to this place one day. Thanks for sharing
Oh..ooo!!! I don’t tend to hurt any religious sentiments but this is far from spiritualism. Spiritualism brings peace. How can one be at peace by piercing one’s body. The pictures gave me goosebumps. Blind faith leads to even more suffering I would say. But thanks for sharing the pictures. Got to see an altogether different face of the world.
I see your point. However, what I saw were people so convinced of their causes that they’d reach an internally peaceful place at some point. Call it extreme meditation if you will
Seeing these different faces of the world is what makes travel so interesting, isn’t it? Thanks for sharing your views and opening in interesting discussion!