Thaipusam

Look closely at the photo - YES, those are oranges hanging from his back by hooks. And he walked 14 km like that, barefoot, in a trance. He was joined by 1.3 million others who came to participate and watch. Welcome to the Thaipusam Festival!
First a little background - (I have to make the disclaimer that I am not at all an expert here - so everything I know about this festival comes from Wikipedia and my conversations with people there. Hopefully I get it all right :-)

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival to honor the Hindu deity Lord Murugan. It originated in India, but has since been banned there. Today it is celebrated mostly by Tamil Hindu communities in Malaysia and Singapore. The biggest celebration takes place at the Batu Caves, 14 km from Kuala Lumpur - this year they estimate that there were 1.3 MILLION people over the course of 3 days. Holy shit, right?

Devotees prepare during the months ahead by praying and fasting, giving up meat, alcohol, sexual activity and impure thoughts. On the day of the festival, they gather at the Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur for the 14 km procession to the Batu Caves, just north of the city. It takes about 8 hours, after which they climb 272 steps to the entrance of the caves. Devotees also make the pilgrimage carrying various types of kavadi (burdens.) The most common is a small pot of milk, which is poured over a statue inside the caves to represent the cleansing of sins.

A family poses with their kavadi inside the Batu Caves.

A more extreme form of kavadi is the vel kavadi, which is basically a portable alter carried on the shoulders and attached to the skin with 108 vels (lances). These guys were absolutely amazing to watch as they climbed the stairs. It was clear they were exhausted after walking 14 km, but they kept going, only stopping occasionally to rest. They would be accompanied by a group of helpers who carried their stool, helped them balance, and massaged their legs when they rested. As they struggled up the stairs, the helpers chanted the word "vel" back and forth to each other, which I assume was a form of encouragement.

A vel kavadi coming up the stairs.Some devotees pierce their cheeks with a vel (lance).

Other devotees would hang various objects from their skin using vels. The powder is ash to make the bleeding stop.

People who have successfully prayed for a child carry the child on a bamboo pole.

The people with pierced flesh or carrying heavy kevadi were all in trances. It is said that they do not feel any pain, do not bleed from the wounds, and do not have scars left after the vels are removed. But it is not something done on a whim - they train and prepare for months ahead of time, usually with a "coach" to help them and to put them into the trance on the day of the festival. I spoke with a man who had participated as a vel kavadi a few years ago, and he said that he has absolutely no recollection of the time he was in a trance, but he knows he did it because his family took photos. I was also told that there is a bit of a problem with under prepared participants who cannot make the full pilgrimage and collapse before they reach the end.

The stairs to the Batu Caves.

A girl rests after climbing the steps.

One of the most amazing parts was watching the determination with which the participants climbed the 272 stairs, even though they were clearly exhausted. Some were having trouble even standing up straight by the time they made it to the top. It was pretty damn inspiring actually. It made me think of all the times I've been physically challenged on hikes or whatever, and had to force myself to keep going even though I was miserably exhausted. In the end, the ability to keep going is all in your mind. If you can believe you will make it, then it's not quite as bad. Now, whenever I have to do something physically challenging, I think of the people at Thaipusam.

A vel kavadi resting at the top. While they rested their helpers would massage their legs and wipe away the sweat.

A young boy with his kavadi.

Luckily, we were given the wise advise to go the night before the main day, which turned out to be the best thing we could have done. We got to see it all, and didn't have to deal with the shoulder to shoulder crowds. And we didn't walk the 14 km, we took the bus instead. Yeah, lazy observers, whatever.

Inside the Batu Caves, which are so big that once you are inside at night, it's easy to forget you are inside - it just feels like you are still outdoors because the ceiling is so high over your head. You can see from this photo that it was not that crowded when we went.

A man prays at a shrine inside the caves. Check out the broken coconuts and bags of offerings that have been left on the ground.

Father and son that kindly posed for a photo. The yellow on their heads is saffron paste. Many males of all ages shave their heads and slather on the paste, which is said to be symbolic of cooling the mind and helping to keep pure thoughts. And the funny thing was, our group had a harder time finding each other in the crowd than we normally do because for once we weren't the only yellow headed people!

Right as I was taking this photo, the man took a handful of marigold petals and scattered them in the air. It scared the shit out of me because I was nervous about getting up so close, and I didn't know what was hitting me. But a family behind me saw it happen and assured me, "It's alright, he is just blessing you!"

And those kind words of help ended up in a new friendship -- we started chatting with the man, Mohen, and his daughters, Darshini and Sharhanyah. They answered many of our questions about the festival and gave an insiders view of what its like to participate. We ran into them again 3 days later at the homecoming parade and spent the entire evening together.

Teenage boys always love to get their photo taken!

One the participants make it to the top, it's time to remove all the hooks and come out of the trance. We were lucky enough to see this part up close and personal, which I guess is hard to do on the main day because of the crowds.

First, the devotee would sit or kneel while his attendants removed the hooks from his skin, rubbing ash on the wound to stop bleeding.

Then, they would go through some sort of ritual which I unfortunately cannot explain - I was never able to find out what goes on during this part.

The moment he came out of the trance, the man would collapse the ground in exhaustion. This transition was really interesting to watch because you could clearly see the contrast between the person in a trance and the person afterwards - two very distinct personalities.

Post-trance exhaustion.

We also got interviewed by the local TV station. This is my friend Janne from Denmark in the spotlight.

And in the grand tradition of randomness of Asia, there was a market and a huge carnival complete with games and ferris wheel right outside the Batu Caves.

A girl begs for money next to a stall selling furniture.

The thing that impressed and surprised us the most was how accepting the participants were to the presence of observers. A good percentage of the people at the caves were just there to watch and take photos, and no one seemed to mind at all; on the contrary, they seemed thrilled that we wanted to be there to share the experience with them. It was easy to start up conversations and get up close and take photos. A very positive atmosphere, which made for a very memorable experience!