Thaipusam

OK..I know that I should be finishing my post on Italy, writing my Africa and Philippines posts, etc. etc.  etc. BUT...I just can't resist posting about Thaipusam, a Hindu festival observed by the Hindus of southern India during the Tamil month of Thai (January - February). Outside of India, it is celebrated mainly by the Tamil speaking community settled in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
It is believed by Hindus that on this day, Goddess Parvati presented a lance to Lord Murugan to vanquish the demon army of Tarakasura and combat their evil deeds.

Thaipusam is a celebration of the victory of good over evil.

Many devotees bear milk, water, fruit and floral tributes on pails hung from a yoke and carry them on their shoulders to various Murugan temples, far and near.  In Singapore they get their piercings and their heavy loads at one temple and then walk barefoot 4.5 kilometers to another temple.

Many fanatical devotees go to such extent as to torture their bodies to appease the Lord. So, a major feature of Thaipusam celebrations is body piercing with hooks, skewers and small lances called 'vel'. Many of these devotees even pull chariots and heavy objects with hooks attached to their bodies. Others pierce their tongue and cheek to impede speech and thereby attain full concentration on the Lord. Most devotees enter into a trance during such piercing due to the incessant drumming and chanting of "vel vel shakti vel."

After 6 years in Singapore now I had been meaning to go to this festival for several years.  Usually my friends go in the middle of the night and I haven't been excited about that.  This year, my friend Carrie and I decided to go in the morning when the kids left for school.

We parked in Little India and walked down Serangoon Road where we saw many people who had been pierced and were walking with their families to the other temple:

                                            This is the temple where they begin their walk.

 Here's a pair of shoes that many wear on the walk; definitely not near as comfy as my Tom's!

                      The families bring milk and prepare it for their family members to carry.

This man was leaving the temple to make the walk on only one leg.  Wow!

We watched this guy get "hooked."

Then we saw him get pierced.

We watched the chanters putting people into a "trance" so that they couldn't feel the pain.

Watching his tongue get pierced made me pretty queasy.

We had to take off our shoes when entering the temple grounds.  We decided to keep our shoes in our bags with us...there were hundreds of shoes on the grounds so we thought there was a good chance we'd never find them again.

What an education we got today!  I can't wait to take my older kids to this festival sometime and ask them if they think what our church requires of us is too much.  I think after seeing this they may decide that being a member of our church is a piece of cake!