Saturday, February 11, 2012

Thaipusam 2012: Burden (Part 2)

FOLLOWING SCENES MAY BE VERY DISTURBING TO SOME.
Scenes of religious self mutilation are shown in this post.
DO NOT VIEW IF YOU ARE ADVERSE TO SUCH SCENES.

Location: Little India, Singapore
Pictures taken on 6th and 7th Feb 2012
All pictures © all rights reserved.
Information text on Thaipusam courtesy of Wikipedia.
Click pictures to see large

Click here to see Part 1
Click here to see Part 3

Thaipusam (Tamil: தைப்பூசம்) is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February).

On the day of the festival, devotees will undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk (known as Paal Kadum), but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.

Some have a small spear through their tongue, or a spear through the cheeks. The spear pierced through his tongue or cheeks reminds him constantly of Lord Murugan. It also prevents him from speaking and gives great power of endurance. Other types of kavadi involve hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or altar on wheels, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit. One of the most spectacular is known as the Vel Kavadi - essentially a portable altar up to two meters tall, decorated with peacock feathers and attached to the devotee through 108 hooks or skewers pierced into the skin on the chest and back.










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