Penang marks 'Thaipusam' in pluralistic celebration<\/p>\n
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Penang, Malaysia<\/p>\n
The damage caused by December's tsunami has not stopped people of
\nvarious faiths and ethnic backgrounds on Penang Island, Malaysia,
\nfrom celebrate the annual Thaipusam Hindu festival.<\/p>\n
Many Chinese-Malaysians and Malays of all age groups, as well
\nas foreign tourists, participated in the festival held at
\nmidnight on Jan. 27.<\/p>\n
The festival commemorates the day the powerful goddess
\nParvathi, the Lord Siva's consort, gave her son, Murugan, a vel
\n(lance) to fight three demons and their armies.<\/p>\n
Lit up by the light of the full moon, participants made
\ndonations and helped distribute bread, fruits and drinks to
\nhundreds of people, mostly Indians of Tamil descent, who paraded
\ndown the island's streets.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Chinese participants lit joss sticks and prayed at
\nHindu temples.<\/p>\n
This pluralistic celebration reportedly only occurs on the
\n285-square-kilometer island, population one million, of which
\nmore than 50 percent are Chinese-Malaysians.<\/p>\n
\"All people from various faiths are allowed to participate in
\nthe festival,\" said G. Muguthan, a temple leader in Georgetown,
\nthe island's main city.<\/p>\n
Muguthan said the involvement of people from various religions
\nand ethnicities illustrated the tolerance embraced by all living
\non Penang. In addition, this attitude reflected the festival's
\npurpose -- to celebrate the death of evil and the return of
\npeace.<\/p>\n
He said Thaipusam was viewed by many people as a day of
\nthanksgiving for all the blessings given by the gods over the
\npast year -- hence the offerings of bread, fruits and drink,
\nwhich symbolized these blessings.<\/p>\n
The Tamil participants -- with many of the women wearing the
\ntraditional sari -- paraded and stopped for a while at the
\ntemples dotting the island, which played Indian tunes on a tape
\nrecorder. They prayed at each temple and received some fruits and
\ndrink.<\/p>\n
The parade also included several trucks decorated to resemble
\na float, upon which traditional Indian music groups rode and
\nentertained residents along the way.<\/p>\n
Among the most beautiful attractions -- and which seemed to be
\nthe centerpiece of the parade -- was a chariot pulled by two
\nwhite bulls, atop which was a three-meter image of Murugan.<\/p>\n
Across Malaysia, such as at the famous Batu Cave Temple on the
\noutskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Thaipusam is marked by piercing parts
\nof the body with steel skewers.<\/p>\n
Many devotees pierced their cheeks, chests and backs with
\nmeter-long skewers, but without bleeding and apparently without
\nany pain, as they were in a trance. Apparently, those who take
\npart in this ritual practice abstinence over several days leading
\nup to the festival to prevent pain and bleeding.<\/p>\n
Tourists watched in awe when the devotees stabbed the steels
\nthrough their own flesh. The steel symbolizes the vel, Murugan's
\nlance which was used to defeat the demons.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, the first festival was reportedly held in 1892 by
\nfirst-generation Tamils who migrated to colonial Malaya.<\/p>\n
However, Penang does not conduct the piercing ritual because
\nof its violence and because it might create fear among the
\nspectators. Instead, the Penang people invented coconut-breaking
\nThe piercing was substituted with a coconut breaking.
\nto replace the piercing ritual.<\/p>\n
People throw and break hundreds of coconuts on the ground at
\nthe end of the festival -- about 4 a.m. local time.<\/p>\n
\"Breaking the coconut means purifying the earth. The water
\nthat flows from the coconut 'cleans' the dirt,\" said Sudesu,
\nMuguthan's son, who financed the celebration at his father's
\ntemple.<\/p>\n
However, the joy of the festivities did not mean the people of
\nPenang forgot their compassion for others who had suffered much,
\nparticularly victims of the tsunami, which killed 28 people on
\nthe island and more than 300,000 people in Asia.<\/p>\n
At this year's Thaipusam, donation boxes were provided at the
\ntemples, and participants solemnly contributed to the fund-raiser
\nfor tsunami victims and their families.<\/p>",
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