THAIPUSAM 2007 Puja (ritual)

The 3 main events in a yearly THAIPUSAM in Tawau Town, Sabah
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POOJA	KAVADI PROCESSION	CHARIOT PROCESSION
Pūjā ( Pooja, पूजा) (Sanskrit: reverence, honour, adoration, or worship) A religious ritual performed by Hindus as an offering to various deities, distinguished persons, or special guests.	In a Kavadi procession, there are 3 category of Kavadi carried by devotees: 1) Heavy weight Kavadi 2) Medium weight Kavadi 3) Basic weight Kavadi	Chariot (Temple Car) is used to carry representations of a Hindu god on festival days, when many people pull the cart.

Hindu Thaipusam festival is observed in Muruga Temples.
On Thaipusam day believers visit Temples dedicated to Muruga to make offerings which mainly includes offering of milk and carrying of Kavadi.

In Tawau Town, on the Thaipusam day large number of devotees head towards Murugan temples in procession carrying Kavadi.

The drumming and chanting electrifies the procession and some start to dance. Some devotees pierce their tongue and cheek with ‘vel’ (small lances.) Some insert hooks in their body. Some people carry pots of milk on their head.

On the day, devotees display their devotion to Lord Muruga by offering fruits and yellow/orange flowers.

Yellow and orange are two colors identified with Muruga.

Puja (ritual)

Puja is a ritual showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or a divine through invocations, prayers and songs.

In a Puja for Hindu, devotee make a spiritual connection with the divine through an icon from an object of nature, or a sculpture, or a vessel, or a painting, or a print.

Puja ritual use these icon image or symbol of god as a means of gaining access to the divine.

Though the icon is not the deity itself, it is filled with the deity's cosmic energy.

The icon served as a focal point for honoring and communicating with the god.

Hindu's icon has high artistic merit and is secondary to its spiritual content.