The Fort Worth Press - Malaysia's Hindu devotees celebrate Thaipusam festival

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 68.858766
ALL 88.802398
AMD 387.151613
ANG 1.799401
AOA 927.769041
ARS 961.359012
AUD 1.46886
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.749922
BBD 2.015926
BDT 119.312844
BGN 1.749287
BHD 0.376236
BIF 2894.376594
BMD 1
BND 1.290118
BOB 6.899298
BRL 5.515104
BSD 0.998434
BTN 83.448933
BWP 13.198228
BYN 3.267481
BYR 19600
BZD 2.012526
CAD 1.35775
CDF 2871.000362
CHF 0.850342
CLF 0.033728
CLP 930.650396
CNY 7.051904
CNH 7.043005
COP 4153.983805
CRC 518.051268
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 98.657898
CZK 22.451404
DJF 177.79269
DKK 6.68204
DOP 59.929316
DZD 132.138863
EGP 48.452557
ERN 15
ETB 115.859974
EUR 0.894904
FJD 2.200804
FKP 0.761559
GBP 0.75092
GEL 2.730391
GGP 0.761559
GHS 15.696327
GIP 0.761559
GMD 68.503851
GNF 8626.135194
GTQ 7.71798
GYD 208.866819
HKD 7.790095
HNL 24.767145
HRK 6.799011
HTG 131.740706
HUF 352.160388
IDR 15160.8
ILS 3.777515
IMP 0.761559
INR 83.48045
IQD 1307.922874
IRR 42092.503816
ISK 136.260386
JEP 0.761559
JMD 156.86485
JOD 0.708504
JPY 143.90404
KES 128.797029
KGS 84.238504
KHR 4054.936698
KMF 441.350384
KPW 899.999433
KRW 1332.490383
KWD 0.30507
KYD 0.832014
KZT 478.691898
LAK 22047.152507
LBP 89409.743659
LKR 304.621304
LRD 199.686843
LSL 17.527759
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.741198
MAD 9.681206
MDL 17.42227
MGA 4515.724959
MKD 55.129065
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999955
MOP 8.014495
MRU 39.677896
MUR 45.880378
MVR 15.360378
MWK 1731.132286
MXN 19.416804
MYR 4.205039
MZN 63.850377
NAD 17.527759
NGN 1639.450377
NIO 36.746745
NOK 10.482404
NPR 133.518543
NZD 1.603206
OMR 0.384512
PAB 0.998434
PEN 3.742316
PGK 3.9082
PHP 55.653038
PKR 277.414933
PLN 3.82535
PYG 7789.558449
QAR 3.640048
RON 4.449904
RSD 104.886038
RUB 92.240594
RWF 1345.94909
SAR 3.752452
SBD 8.306937
SCR 13.046124
SDG 601.503676
SEK 10.170404
SGD 1.291304
SHP 0.761559
SLE 22.847303
SLL 20969.494858
SOS 570.572183
SRD 30.205038
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.736188
SYP 2512.529936
SZL 17.534112
THB 32.927038
TJS 10.61334
TMT 3.5
TND 3.025276
TOP 2.342104
TRY 34.124875
TTD 6.791035
TWD 31.981038
TZS 2725.719143
UAH 41.267749
UGX 3698.832371
UYU 41.256207
UZS 12705.229723
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 36.777762
VND 24605
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.797463
XAF 586.90735
XAG 0.03211
XAU 0.000381
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.739945
XOF 586.90735
XPF 106.706035
YER 250.325037
ZAR 17.38465
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 26.433141
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSD

    0.0100

    25.02

    +0.04%

  • NGG

    0.7200

    69.55

    +1.04%

  • SCS

    -0.3900

    12.92

    -3.02%

  • CMSC

    0.0300

    25.15

    +0.12%

  • RELX

    -0.1400

    47.99

    -0.29%

  • RBGPF

    58.8300

    58.83

    +100%

  • GSK

    -0.8200

    40.8

    -2.01%

  • BP

    -0.1200

    32.64

    -0.37%

  • BTI

    -0.1300

    37.44

    -0.35%

  • RIO

    -1.6100

    63.57

    -2.53%

  • BCC

    -7.1900

    137.5

    -5.23%

  • AZN

    -0.5200

    78.38

    -0.66%

  • JRI

    -0.0800

    13.32

    -0.6%

  • BCE

    -0.1500

    35.04

    -0.43%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    6.97

    +0.29%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    10.01

    -0.5%

Malaysia's Hindu devotees celebrate Thaipusam festival
Malaysia's Hindu devotees celebrate Thaipusam festival / Photo: © AFP

Malaysia's Hindu devotees celebrate Thaipusam festival

Hundreds of thousands of Hindus celebrated the annual Thaipusam festival on Thursday, gathering in temples across Malaysia, with many displaying their devotion by piercing their bodies with hooks and skewers.

Text size:

Huge crowds converged at the spectacular Batu Caves temple complex on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur for the event, which is one of the most important religious festivals for local Hindus.

Barefoot devotees made a steep 272-step climb in high humidity to reach the temple top nestled within a limestone hill.

"I think because you're constantly praying, you don't really feel it," devotee Jaynita, who asked to be identified only by her first name, told AFP.

"Once you go in you are in a mode of like, Zen, you just think about the god (Lord Murugan) and you just want to reach him," she added.

The 30-year-old and her sister carried milk pots on their heads as offerings to the god to give thanks for the improved health of sick family members.

"When they get better, we believe that it's because of him. So we fulfill the vow since he fulfilled what we asked for," she said.

Thaipusam commemorates the day when the goddess Parvathi gave her son Lord Murugan a powerful lance to fight evil demons.

Some devotees carried heavy ornate metal structures called kavadis, affixed to their bodies with sharp metal spikes, or had their tongues and cheeks pierced with metal skewers as a show of thanksgiving and penance to Lord Murugan.

Many others in yellow robes carried offerings of milk pots or coconuts, which are smashed in a cleansing ritual during the festival.

Devotees appeared to be in a trance-like state as they carried the kavadis, which can weigh as much as 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds).

Some throbbed to drumbeats and religious songs as family members and friends cheered them on.

Prior to Thaipusam, devotees will typically hold daily prayer sessions, abstain from sex and stick to a strict vegetarian diet for weeks.

Colourful scenes also took place in Malaysia's Penang state, where massive crowds thronged to a hilltop temple.

"We expect some one million people to participate in the Thaipusam festival in Penang," R.S.N. Rayer, Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman told AFP.

K. Ganesan, 59, a photographer in the northern state, said he and his family will "walk five kilometres carrying the milk for Lord Murugan, who has protected and graced my family."

Thaipusam is also celebrated in India and Singapore and other areas with large Hindu Tamil communities, but is marked with particular zest in multi-cultural Malaysia.

Ethnic Indians make up about seven percent of mostly Muslim Malaysia's 34 million population.

C.Dean--TFWP