An unforgettable birthday

      This is really late, like almost a month late but better late then never. For my birthday I had the chance to experience Thaipusam! It was so exciting and scary and kind of disturbing but it was really amazing. For those who don't know, Thaipusam is a Hindi celebration celebrated by the Tamil community on the full moon on the Tamil month of Thai, which so happened to be on my birthday, January 17th. Before I came to Malaysia, as I was researching the culture and celebrations, Thaipusam was one that interested me the most. I was really hoping that I would get the chance to experience, so when my chapter president said that she would take us to her temple I was ecstatic. The festival commemorates when Parvati gave Murugan a "Vel Spear" so that he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman. People will pray on this to to the Lord Murugan, the the Tamil Lord of war. He vanquishes all evils so on this day people will pray to him to destroy evils in their lives. They will carry with them a "Kavadi" which symbolizes a burden. Usually it will be a milk pot and they will have to carry this on top of there head to the temple. They will go barefoot and have to walk a long distance. Others will pierce there cheeks or tongue along with carrying the milk pot.
     Those who pierce have to fast for approximately 48 days before Thaipusam. They will eat nothing but vegetarian food when the sun is down and fast for the whole day. This is to prepare themselves. When they are about to get pierced some will go into a trance. They will not feel a thing and will even start to dance or move there heads to a beat. If they have fasted properly they will not bleed.
     Others will have very big kavadi's they will carry by putting it over there body and piercing there back with small hooks. These are very heavy and they still need to put a milk pot on them. These will be made and decorated by the person carrying it. These kavadi's can be very colorful and before they go they will spin around with them and dance, making for a spectacular view. There are others who will have hooks on their backs with ropes attached. On the other end of the ropes will be a person pulling on them while they walk ahead, These are one of the scariest to me because it looks like they will just pull the skin right off their backs.
    Thaipusam is celebrated in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar. The largest Thaipusam celebration in Malaysia is in Batu Caves, where millions of devotees and tourists will gather. In Batu Caves they will have to carry the Kavadi's 15 km starting from KL all the way to the caves and climb 272 steps to leave the kavadi and milk pot to the hige statue of the Lord Murugan.

Our Henna :) The peacock is very important in Thaipusam because it is the vehicle of Lord Murugan

Kavadi's adorned with peacock feathers and flowers 

This couple are carrying their baby, they are giving thanks for their new born

Exchange students of Johor with our Indian guide

One of the biggest piercings I saw

"Just here, texting with an arrow piercing my cheeks, no big deal"