Thaipusam

Roughly 2 weeks ago, Marianna and I landed into the mysterious, rainforest covered land of Malaysia.  We left Shanghai at 5:30 AM, caught a bus to the neighboring city of Hangzhou, flew out of Hangzhou into Kuala Lumpur, and safely landed around 9 PM.  We didn't properly hop into bed until 3 AM so needless to say we were tired from the long day of traveling.  The next morning, we woke up bright and early to attend and observe the Thaipusam festival.

Thaipusam is an annual Hindu festival that draws in millions of people who pay respect to Lord Muruga.  If a prayer or a wish made the year before is granted, the believer will go through a special cleansing and tribute to give thanks on this holiday.  A quick google image search will give you an idea what sort of sacrifices these devotees undertake.  Saying I was overwhelmed  by these images is an understatement.  These people showed their love in various forms of self-representation.  Some chose to hang small ornaments or objects on hooks off their backs and arms.  There were feathers, oranges, and gold coins to name a few.  Others speared their cheeks with long, shiny rods, accompanied with pieces of fruit on the end.  A few people were carrying smoking clay pots in each hand, flesh only buffered by a few layers of leaves. I was told that inside the pot was burning cow dung.  And then there was the great kavadi, a huge shrine perched on the shoulders of the believer, made to be carried up the 272 steep steps to the Batu Caves.  They are like giant headdresses, standing 4-5 feet up in the air with multiple platforms.  Each platform is adorned with rich-colored ostrich feathers and shiny, gold objects.  Some even have chains hanging off the platform and embedded into the arms of the believer.  Kavadis came in all different shapes with all different ornaments and pictures but I'm guessing the average one weighed around 40 pounds.  It was an incredible sight to see; thinking about this now still gives me slight chills.    And the craziest thing of all is that none of this self-mutilation actually hurts the person.  The piercing of the cheeks, back, arms does not draw any blood; it's said that all pain is removed by their god.  When I looked into the faces of the devotees, they seemed to be in a different world.  Their eyes were rolled back and they shook their heads to music only they could hear.  I have dozens upon dozens of pictures but won't be able to upload them until I'm back in China.  Although I was very tired that day, all fatigue vanished and replaced with wonder and amazement. It was truly moving to see what humans can and want to perform for their beliefs and religion.

Visitors walking up the hundreds of steps to the holy Batu Caves

Beautiful peacock feathers were in abundance at this festival.

Inspired and amazed,

Jac