Malaysian Indians celebrate Thaipusam
Malaysian Indians celebrate Thaipusam
By Barani Krishnaan
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Every year Nagappa Sundar orders hundreds
of flesh-piercing hooks to be sharpened and then pokes them into
at least a dozen men. Sometimes, he drives skewers up to a foot
long (30 centimeters) through their tongue and cheeks.
Nagappa is no sadist although he delights in what he does. The
priest's targets also submit to him willingly and with joy.
"This year, I am having 48 hooks pierced into my body," said
Sukumar Krishnan, an electronics engineer with the Malaysian
branch of US-based photocopier company Xerox.
"There's also going to be a spear-shaped skewer going through
my cheeks," said Sukumar, with a grin.
He and Nagappa are part of some 1.4 million ethnic Indians in
Malaysia who celebrate Thaipusam, a Hindu festival where
thousands of people pierce themselves with hooks and skewers once
a year as a penance for the Lord Muruga.
The Hindu devotees also shoulder heavy and elaborately-
designed structures called kavadis and walk barefooted for long
distances, often up a hill, during the one-day festival which is
also celebrated widely in India and Singapore.
Hindu scriptures say that Muruga, the youngest son of the
paramount Lord Shiva, was created to eliminate a demonic clan and
resided on a mountain for part of his life -- thus the festival's
emphasis on hills.
This year Thaipusam is celebrated last Tuesday, with
celebrations held in at least four places in Malaysia, the most
popular being the limestone Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur which
house a hilltop Muruga shrine accessible by 272 steps.
Nagappa and his followers can be seen at the Batu Caves every
Thaipusam, dressed from the waist down in traditional clothing
and carrying huge multi-colored steel and aluminum kavadis
adorned with statues of Muruga and peacock feathers.
The men sway to the beat of drums while gold-colored chains
with hooks shimmer on their bare upper bodies.
The women usually carry pitchers of milk on their heads while
children shoulder small arch-shaped structures and sometimes have
skewers dangling from their tongues.
"The skewers and hooks are part of the penance. They don't
cause any pain to the devotees because all the pain is taken away
by Lord Muruga," said Nagappa, who has been piercing Thaipusam
devotees for 26 years.
The 44-year-old Hindu priest understands the disbelieving
looks he gets when he says the ritual is painless. Those who
witness the act are usually astonished to find that the devotees
do not bleed.
"It's our faith and love in Lord Muruga that enables us to do
this. There is no medical or scientific explanation," Nagappa
said.
He said devotees meditate deeply and lapse into a trance
before they are pierced.
"It is at this trance stage that the Lord enters their body
and leads them through without trauma," said Nagappa.
The spiritual road to Thaipusam is a long and arduous one for
kavadi bearers.
They usually fast for up to 48 days, living on a single
vegetarian meal daily, and do not smoke or consume alcohol. They
also sleep on a bare floor and abstain from sex and other sensual
gratification during the fast.
"In short, the kavadi bearer will have to be pure in body and
spirit," said Nagappa, adding that if a devotee bleeds, it often
means he has done "something wrong."
Devotees undergoing the ritual usually seek spiritual
salvation or improvements in material life from Muruga. Some also
come for benevolent reasons, hoping to help others with their
actions.