Thaipusam Penang, the work experience of life

The Thaipusam in Penang is special. If you ask me, Thaipusam is one of the most colorful festivals in Malaysia.

Malaysia, with its multi-racial society and culture, has a number of cultural and religious festivals. For the Indian population Thaipusam (along with Deepavali) is the most important holiday of the year. Thaipusam is a Hindu festival, first of all a feast for the Indians of the south. Thaipusam celebrates the day Goddess Parvati bestowedto beat their son with "vel" or casts the demon of evil, Soorapadam. This launches denotes spiritual insight, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, to distinguish between justice and fortitude. However, Thaipusam has come to mean the birthday of Lord Subramaniam, also known as Muruga, the youngest son of Lord Shiva known.

Indian Hindus celebrate the festival of the tenth lunar month (Thai), which is usually between 15 January and 15 February. Although it is primarily a South IndianFestival, you see a lot of North Indian, Punjabi, Chinese and even an occasional orang puti (Westerners) to fulfill their vows. The feast is celebrated on the diet for several days, but for those who are vegetarians with a kavadi, prepared weeks before, with prayers and a.

The first day

The most important day of Thaipusam with Mr Murungi leave the temple in the city of George Town to begin at sunrise. Hence, MurugaJourney to the Waterfall Temple, a journey of about 10 km, the celebration lasts all day.

This is a spectacular journey to be broken before the machine where coconuts, cleans the streets. There are people dancing, until they are in a trance. Food and drinks are freely available. All the temples, Indian and Chinese are openly paid for the transfer Lord Muruga. It is worth arriving early, at sunrise (the exact time, only the most senior priests in the noteTemple) and you can feel the atmosphere change if Mr Muruga is the temple. The Thaipusam has officially begun and everyone wants as close to divinity as possible.

The second day

The second day starts early for the faithful. The beginning for my journey begins at dawn in Lorong Kulit temple. If you arrive early, you will see the advocates of the preparation to fulfill their vows. The believer is in a trance, and many have their tongues and cheeksSkewer with long silver needles. Some will be chest and back with pieces of metal have hooks. One year I saw people with coconuts hanging on his chest. Others prefer to hook on the back of a giant statue of the deity connected.

Some carry statues of deities on his head. These statues are easy weighing 30kg or more. You will see whole families to fulfill their vows, some to pray for good health of the child, happiness and wealth. On the way from the temple Lorong KulitWaterfall temple will be visited all the temples to pray on the street. In many places you will see the faithful dance to loud music, despite the enormous weight of some wear on their heads.

For a non-believer like me, even as I write this, it seems scary. The truth is that if you're in the area of the festival, is a happy family. Spirituality is stretched in the air. I have experience participated in the festival three times and each time it was a pleasure, a spell. I closelyWitness one of my friends son fulfillment of the vote.

A good place to get a little 'closer to the faithful of the stairs leading to the Waterfall Temple. If you arrive early you might want to go all the way, but later in the day is too full and could easily take 1-2 hours (even if the climb is short).

The stairs are a great place to see the people. Young and old faithful, some with a slight stress cause other serious kavadi. But they all share the same luckthere.

As I was saying is, everything from preparation right with the right attitude and adherence to a strict vegetarian diet.

The first time I was at the festival of Thaipusam Penang, I was totally KO atmosphere, happiness and devotion of the people. I can only say that it was absolutely magical.

If it is a festival in Malaysia that is worthy of a visit, Thaipusam. In Kuala Lumpur is the largest mass of the faithful around theBatu Caves, but in Penang, Thaipusam in which the best experience.