Monday, June 06, 2011
Thaipusam: A Gory Test of Faith this January 20.
Image ? juliansong/Creative Commons
As painful as this Thaipusam kavadi bearer's burdens seem to be, most of them claim to feel little pain as they carry their sacrifices in honor of the Lord Murugan.
The devout Hindu Tamils who join the Thaipusam procession celebrate the birthday of Murugan on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai (Thai + Pusam, a star at its apogee = Thaipusam), and those who feel they have received significant favors from Murugan will repay the gifts by bearing kavadis on this day.
What's a kavadi? Where does the Thaipusam procession pass? To find out more, read this article: Thaipusam Celebrations in Southeast Asia. Pro tip: you can visit Singapore or Batu Caves in Selangor, Malaysia on January 20 to see the festivities. If you can't visit, you can watch the procession live at Batu Caves on TrulyAsiaTV, at Thursday 12:00 noon GMT.
View the original article here
Labels: Faith, January, Thaipusam
