Thaipusam Festival

Started to walk after the steamboat meal ended at 12pm, slightly merry on a few whisky’s. Couldn’t catch a taxi so kept walking and ended up in Little India, where I caught the precession of people carrying things on their heads. Walked down Serangoon road and to the Hindu temple.

There was something going on!

Funny how random this was for me. This festival has been somthing I've been wanting to see for a few years now.

Even had a student from one of the schools I teach at say "Hi Mr Dan". She was in the precession.

(excerpt from thingsasian)

Devotees perform acts of self-mutilation and body piercing. Having done that, the devotees will then drag and carry heavy weights and other ornately decorated structures using various pierced parts of their bodies. These structures are known as kavadis.

During the past month, devotees must go through a cleansing process in order to prepare themselves for the feats of endurance. This cleansing process involves the denial of alcohol, tobacco and sex. They must also meditate regularly. Amazingly, these self-mutilations cause no pain and leave no scars, and all these mutilations are done in honor of the Lord Maruga. Devotees can choose to honor the Lord for having taken care of their health throughout the year, or even thank him for the birth of a child. As part of the reasoning behind Thaipusam, Hindus believed it is a must for them to offer their thanksgiving to Lord Maruga or bad luck will befall them.