Eileen and I lucked out big time while we were in Penang, Malaysia during its annual Thaipusam festival and it was one of the most incredible experiences that we have ever had and we hope you will feel the same!
For three days the streets were packed with people in colorful garb celebrating and entreating the Lord Marugan to give them favor and answer their prayers. Don't miss the unbelievable sacrifice the people go through to gain more favor and have a better chance of having their prayers answered.
[WHAT IS THAIPUSAM?] Thaipusam is a festival celebrated by the Tamil Hindu community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Caribbean, South Africa, etc. The word "Thaipusam" stands for both "Thai" which is the tenth month in the Hindu calendar and "Pusam" which means when the moon is brightest.
[HOW HINDU CELEBRATE THAIPUSAM?] Thaipusam is a day of prayers. Dedicated to Lord Subramaniam, also known as Lord Murugan, this festival is a time for repentance for devotees bearing various "kavadi" burdens and food, flower and coconut offerings with celebrations carried out mainly at the temple.
[PREPARATION BEFORE THAIPUSAM] The preparations start 48 days before the two-day Thaipusam festival. The devotees clear themselves of all mental and physical impurities. They take only one vegetarian meal per day and 24 hours before Thaipusam.
The devotees prepare themselves by following :
1) Shaving of the head 2) Bathing in cold water 3) Sexual abstinence 4) Sleeping on the floor 5) Vegetarian diet 6) Refraining from alcohol 7) Constant prayers
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SUBSCRIBE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRv2IBqQlGQF_VQTIbbRz6g Penang travel, Penang Malaysia, Thaipusam Penang, Lord Marugan, kavadi, Hindu tradition, Hindu festivals, Thaipusam Malaysia Singapore South Africa Indonesia India Sri Lanka Caribbean, extreme religious festival, ultimate devotion, painful devotion
एलीन और मैंने अपने वार्षिक थिपुसम उत्सव के दौरान पेनांग, मलेशिया में रहते हुए बड़े समय का सौभाग्य प्राप्त किया और यह हमारे लिए अब तक के सबसे अविश्वसनीय अनुभवों में से एक था और हमें उम्मीद है कि आप भी ऐसा ही महसूस करेंगे!
तीन दिनों तक सड़कों पर लोगों को रंग-बिरंगी वेशभूषा में मनाया गया और भगवान मारुगन को खुश करने के लिए उन्हें आशीर्वाद देने और उनकी प्रार्थनाओं का जवाब देने के लिए तैयार किया गया। अविश्वसनीय बलिदान को याद मत करो लोगों को अधिक पक्ष हासिल करने के माध्यम से जाना और उनकी प्रार्थना का जवाब देने का एक बेहतर मौका है।
[क्या था? थिपुसुम तमिल हिंदू समुदाय द्वारा थाई (जनवरी / फरवरी) के तमिल महीने में पूर्णिमा पर मनाया जाने वाला त्योहार है। यह मुख्य रूप से उन देशों में मनाया जाता है जहां भारत, श्रीलंका, मलेशिया, मॉरीशस, सिंगापुर, कैरिबियन, दक्षिण अफ्रीका आदि तमिल समुदाय की एक महत्वपूर्ण उपस्थिति है। "थिपुसुम" शब्द "थाई" दोनों के लिए है जो दसवां है हिंदू कैलेंडर में महीना और "पुसम" जिसका अर्थ है कि जब चंद्रमा सबसे अधिक चमकीला होता है।
[HINDU CELEBRATE THAIPUSAM?] थिपुसुम प्रार्थना का दिन है। भगवान सुब्रमण्यम को समर्पित, जिन्हें भगवान मुरुगन के नाम से भी जाना जाता है, यह त्योहार मुख्य रूप से मंदिर में मनाए जाने वाले उत्सवों के साथ विभिन्न "कावड़ी" बोझ और भोजन, फूल और नारियल के प्रसाद वाले भक्तों के लिए पश्चाताप का समय है।
[उत्तर पूर्व से पूर्व] दो दिवसीय थिपुसुम त्योहार से 48 दिन पहले तैयारियां शुरू हो जाती हैं। भक्तों ने खुद को सभी मानसिक और शारीरिक अशुद्धियों से मुक्त कर लिया। वे प्रति दिन केवल एक शाकाहारी भोजन लेते हैं और थिपुसुम से 24 घंटे पहले।
भक्त खुद को निम्नलिखित द्वारा तैयार करते हैं:
1) सिर की शेविंग २) ठंडे पानी में स्नान करना 3) यौन संयम 4) फर्श पर सोना 5) शाकाहारी भोजन 6) शराब से परहेज करना 7) लगातार प्रार्थना करना SUBSCRIBE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRv2IBqQlGQF_VQTIbbRR6g पेनांग यात्रा, पेनांग मलेशिया, थिपुसुम पेनांग, लॉर्ड मारुगन, कावड़ी, हिंदू परंपरा, हिंदू त्योहार, थिपुसुम मलेशिया सिंगापुर दक्षिण अफ्रीका इंडोनेशिया भारत श्रीलंका कैरिबियन, चरम धार्मिक त्योहार, परम भक्ति, दर्दनाक भक्ति
We need to think about all this.
So this is a festival, a Hindu festival.
It's all throughout India, Southeast Asia.
Leading up to Taipusam, many devotees have been preparing themselves for 48 days prior to the festival
and fast for the last 24 hours.
Here on the way back from dinner in Little India,
we got lucky to observe followers of Lord Muruga making vows in preparation for the three-day event.
Early Friday morning was a lively Taipusam start
with dual chariot processions bearing statues of Lord Muruga.
According to Hindu belief, Taipusam commemorates the day when Goddess Poverty
gave her son Lord Muruga a lance to slay evil demons.
The new golden chariot started first,
then followed an hour later by the ever-so-popular 164-year-old silver chariot.
Thousands of devotees followed the chariots by foot along its route to the waterfall hilltop,
Murungan Temple, where they will all arrive at midnight.
Taipusam is celebrated wherever there are significant populations of Tamil Hindus
such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, as well as parts of the Caribbean
including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago along with Mauritius.
You are soon to discover that Taipusam is many different things
including a coconut breaking ritual which comes with its own cleaning crew.
Along the way, tens of thousands line the streets to welcome the chariots.
Breaking coconuts as offering, a key annual ritual.
Many offered platters of fruits, flowers and coconuts to Lord Muruga
to give thanks for their life's blessings.
The Taipusam celebration is also seen as a manifestation of the religious freedom and unity,
tolerance and mutual understanding and harmony
that exists between the many different races and religions in Malaysia.
Many waited along the route at Chulia Street to present offerings and receive blessings
as both chariots passed.
Tomorrow, there will be hundreds of Kavadi bearers
and tens of thousands of milk pot carriers making their way to the temple.
More on that later.
The chariots' return journey will be on Sunday.
Taipusam actually derives from two words.
Thai, meaning the 10th month in the Tamil Hindu calendar
and Pusam is the time when the star is at its brightest.
Hindus believe that Lord Murugan, whose statue sits on each of the chariots,
is a dispenser of favors.
The festival is a time for prayers and penance
and the devotees pledging vows and undergoing self-mortification
as a sign of gratitude and to implore for help to help their prayers be granted.
The Kavadi means burden and is in itself a physical burden,
the bearing of which is used by the devotee to implore Lord Murugan for assistance,
usually on behalf of a loved one who is in need of healing
or as a means of balancing a spiritual debt.
Devotees process and dance along a pilgrimage route while bearing these burdens.
For 48 days in preparation for Taipusam,
devotees will fast, sleep on the floor, avoid alcohol and sexual acts,
and above all they will pray.
And then once again, when the star Pusam reaches its zenith,
they will set off in a procession to offer the temple their bodies to Lord Murugan.
This gentleman's burden is Alavu Kavadi
and that is the piercing of the tongue or cheeks,
which is common and reminds the devotee constantly of Lord Murugan.
It also prevents him from speaking, which is humbling.
Another one as you see here also is Kudam Moli,
small hooks pierced into the skin where pots of milk are tied to it
as an offering to Lord Murugan.
Notice when the hooks are being removed,
they are placing cow dung on the wounds.
This keeps them from being infected and acts as a disinfectant.
Surprisingly, the gentleman that you just saw on screen
with the pierced tongue and the hooks all over his body with the jars of milk,
he was actually laughing and I don't think he was in pain.
A lot of people say this is because of the state of mind that they get into,
their vegetarian diet and also the meditation.
But the guy was laughing and he did not appear in pain
and never during the weekend did I ever see any blood.
As in the case of the man you are now looking at
who is beginning the climb to the temple,
the burden contraptions are so large and heavy
that several men have to offer assistance.
This wooden pole is balanced on the shoulders of the devotee
and is often decorated with flowers and peacock feathers.
The covadis are then carried through the crowd
until finally removed for prayers at a designated place
and some of them can weigh up to 30 kilograms.
Now come join us as we walk up the steps to the Waterfall Hill Temple
which is the temple of Lord Muruga.
I've been to Southern India, this reminds me of my trip back in 1991.
Where are you from?
U.S.
Okay, we charge you in U.S. dollars.
Okay, no problem.
Thank you.
This is the expensive Parliament seat.
Thank you, sir.
So good. Smells delicious.
Thank you.
So this milk...
It's like warm milk.
It's the blessed milk and it has sandalwood in it.
That's what we've just done up here.
Wow, it's crazy.
We came up, I don't know, five, six hundred steps
to the top of the hill to the temple
and it is hotter than heck up here
but the Indian people have been so incredibly hospitable.
Oh yeah.
Good old Southern hospitality.
Free drinks and then we just sat down,
they invited us to a lunch, a free lunch.
On banana leaves.
We ate with our fingers
and sat next to some really nice people
who were very friendly and kind
and the servers were wonderful.
They were just lovely.
And we had some rice with some curry
and then some...
Sambar.
And then after that was done,
we had some cardamom rice pudding.
It just moves your soul.
It's so good.
The right amount of sweet
and that fragrant cardamom.
It's incredible.
So it's been a great experience up here
on their holy mountain, on their holy day
and we've really enjoyed it.
Seeing some things which you're going to see too
that we've never seen before
and we're just really fortunate to be here during this.
It only goes on once a year
and it started with yesterday, right?
At 6.30 in the morning
and it's continuing through the weekend.
So we're keeping you up to date on everything.
And we're really blessed
that the Hindu people have welcomed us
even though we're not celebrating with them,
even though we don't believe the same way they do.
They've welcomed us with open arms.
Very kind.
Sweet people.
They've taken the time to explain things
that are very confusing
for someone who's never been through it before.
So it's been a wonderful day.
The people have been fantastic.
The Thaipusam Festival is an intense spectacle to witness.
Entranced devotees fearlessly pierce their faces and bodies.
They carry and drag heavy sleds
attached to their bodies with hooks and skewers
as a kavadi burden called velmur.
As a first-timer watching the Thaipusam Festival
prepare to be enthralled and confused.
Families come to support their loved ones
who decided to transform their body into a walking temple.
Higher groups of drummers
with their rhythmic trance sounds
motivate devotees to make one of the most demanding sacrifices.
There are also tourists
attracted by the uniqueness of the event.
Shock and disbelief
mixed with admiration
as they look at the sheer chilling scenes
happening just in front of them.
And as if we haven't seen enough
Eileen and I on our way back to the hotel on our scooter
pass by this local Hindu temple
and the celebration has spilled out onto the street.
Take a look at this.
The devotee that you see dancing here
is doing the Thol Kavadi
which is dancing with a massive wooden structure.
And you'll see that others are close by
in case he gets ready to drop it.
And then it's handed on to somebody else
and so on and so forth.
That's all folks
and thanks for watching Blown Away.
