Ethnic Indian Malaysians yesterday massed in Hindu temples across the country to celebrate the annual Thaipusam festival, months after the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions that had barred large crowds.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Batu Caves temple just outside Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, many piercing their bodies with hooks and skewers in an act of devotion to the deity Lord Murugan.
The event commemorates the day when the goddess Parvathi gave her son Lord Murugan a powerful lance to fight evil demons.
Photo: Reuters
Bearing offerings such as milk pots and heavy ornate metal structures called kavadis, devotees walked barefoot up 272 steps to reach the temple — an important religious site for local Hindus.
This year’s celebration was the liveliest seen in recent years, with devotees glad at being allowed to return to observe their rituals.
“[Previously] we couldn’t do our vows due to the COVID-19 lockdown,” Kupuvanes Tetchanamwoorthy, 45, told reporters. “This year, we could come here and take our vows... I feel so grateful.”
Photo: AFP
Some devotees appeared to be in a state of trance as they carried the kavadis, which can weigh as much as 100kg.
Others pierced their bodies with skewers or hung multiple hooks and chains from their bodies in an act of penance.
Prior to Thaipusam, devotees typically hold daily prayer sessions, abstain from sex and stick to a strict vegetarian diet for weeks.
“When we pray for something, we need to give him [Lord Murugan] back something as a blessing,” devotee Bahvani Kumaran, 63, told reporters. “Sometimes with your vow, you carry the kavadi, or carry the milk. Whichever way, it is something that you give back to him.”
While more than half of Malaysia’s 32 million people are Muslim, the country is home to about 2 million ethnic Indians.
Lord Murugan is particularly revered in southern India and among ethnic Tamil communities in Southeast Asia, with Thaipusam also celebrated in India and Singapore.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS