Thaipusam is an annual Hindu festival which draws the largest gathering in multi-racial Malaysia. In Penang, Murugan temple stood majestically in the inner sanctum is the popular place on the important occasion.
Coming this 8th Feb 2009, the famous Murugan temple which is located atop a small hill in Penang near the Botanical Gardens, is visited by thousands of devotees who end their journey on foot every year.
After hours of trekking from the various temples in George Town, the devotees ascend the hill with a final inspired spurt of fulfillment and calmness, to release their loads in the holy place as a realization of their vows.
During the festivities, devotees spear their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods often a meter long and pierce their chests and backs with small, hook-like needles in penance. Tourists, who join the festivals, watch in awe as metal pierces the skin with hardly any bleeding and, apparently, no pain as the devotee stands in a trance in the dawn light after weeks of rigorous abstinence.
For visitors, the early morning of Thaipusam is the finest time to experience the purist side of the festival. The calm and tranquil march of devotees bearing ceremonial milk-pots, coconuts and simple shoulder-kavadis in the balmy hours is an interesting sight to remember.
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