THAIPUSAM IN SABAH 2014

The 3 main events in a yearly THAIPUSAM in Tawau Town, Sabah
1	2	3

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.

Wishing all Hindus a happy, joyous and meaningful Thaipusam 2014

THAIPUSAM 2014 Tawau

大宝森节

Thaipusam commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a Vel “spear” so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman. It is an occasion for devotees to pray to God to receive his grace so that bad traits are destroyed.

THAIPUSAM celebrations on 17th January 2014 Friday at Tawau not only attracted devotees but also local visitors who wanted to have a first hand experience to witness the Hindu ritual up close

Many first time visitors were overwhelmed with the Thaipusam celebration when they visited the Tawau Temple in Tawau. Many had never experienced seeing a Thaipusam celebrations.

Fascinated with everything seeing before their eyes such as the colourful dresses worn by children and adults. The beating of drums to accompanying the kavadi bearers and the KAVADI carried by people on their shoulders are all overwhelming.

Despite the blazing heat, devotees walked bare-foot on the hot tarmac to fulfil their vows.
Many carried brass pots filled with milk, while others carried colourful kavadi.

The festival was an amazing experience underscored by vibrant colours, reverberating spiritual songs and drum beats.

Many local never seen such a spectacular sight before.
We learn to pay attention to the differences and diversity of the different races in Malaysia to improve our understanding of the customs, cultures, religions and languages of the different races so that we can be more tolerant and accepting.

For the young people, the annual Thaipusam is certain to offer an extreme spiritual experience a chance to pierce different parts of your body without your parents' consent

It celebrates both the birth of Shiva and Parvati's youngest deity Murugan and his garnering of the vel (spear) from Parvati to be rid of the evil demon Soorapadman, a rakshasa that had been tormenting the good souls of the universe.

Hindu Devotees will cleanse themselves through prayer and fasting, in which those to bear the Kavadi (burden) will initiate elaborate ceremonies to prepare for the day, indulging in voluntary celibacy and taking only Satvik (pure) food once a day.

The Kavadi, a physical burden through which the devotees implore for help from the god Murugan, will come in the form of milk, water and fruits or flowers that are the god's favorite colors yellow and orange. Devotees will walk with them to different Murugan temples on the day of Thaipusam, wearing also yellow and orange attire and having clean shaven heads to resemble purity.
A horde of male and female devotees undertake a pilgrimage from a Hindu Shrine by a stream of Tawau River to a 3-kilometer barefoot walk for approximately one to two hours to the mother temple of Murugam.

Mortification of the flesh, piercing the skin, tongue, cheek and the back with hooks, skewers and long vel lances have become more common over the years to replace ordinary kavadi. Some devotees even pull chariots and heavy objects with hooks attached to their bodies. The piercing of the tongue and cheek impedes speech, hence giving them full concentration on the god, entering a state of trance through incessant drumming and the chanting of "vel vel shakti vel".

The number of people coming from different ethnic groups and faiths, such as Chinese carrying their own Kavadi has also grown.

On January 17, 2014 the Hindu of Malaysia, South India, Singapore, and Sri Lanka celebrate Thaipusam, a day of thanksgiving and penance.

Thaipusam honors Murugan, the Hindu god of war and victory, and participating devotees go to extreme measures to show their gratitude.

The traditional way to celebrate Thaipusam are :
1- bear a kavadi
2- bear a physical burden

In offering their kavadi to Murugan, devotees inflicting pain on themselves in order to be granted protection against misfortune.

In Tawau Kavadi bearers dressed in yellow, red, and orange embark on an two-hour, 3 Kilometers procession. The journey ends at Tawau Temple.

THAIPUSAM IN SABAH

Hindus in Sabah join those elsewhere in Malaysia in observing Thaipusam 17 January 2014, with the festival of thanksgiving and paying penance.
The main venue for the festival is the THIRUMURUGAN TEMPLE Mile 2, Jalan Utara, Tawau Devotees and their family members and friends converge at Hindu Shrine beside a stream of Tawau River as early as 6 am to prepare themselves for the elaborate feat of paying homage to Lord Murugan.

In a state of trance, the ''kavadi'' bearers walked from the small river barefoot, accompanied by their family members and friends.

Kavadi Bearers

Most for the kavadi bearers will be fulfilling vows they have made to Lord Murugan for having blessed them with good health and fortune.

Most of them fast for 30 days before carrying the kavadi on the Thaipusam Day on 17th January 2014.

Thaipusam is celebrated by Hindus around the world on the full moon day in the month of "Thai" in the Tamil calendar, which usually falls in January or February.

Each year more then a million Hindus gather at various temples in Malaysia to celebrate Thaipusam. The exact date of this important Hindu event is based on the full moon day in the month of Thai (January/February) in the Hindu calendar. Thaipusam is a celebration dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Murugan (youngest son of Shiva and his wife Parvati).

Photo above : Getting ready to start the Chariot Procession at Thirumurugan Temple, Tawau. On the left of image the tall blue statue is Hanuman the monkey god which was erected in 2013.

The golden chariot carrying an icon of the Lord Murugan departing the temple for an annual "outing" procession. While some devotees pulls the chariot, the rest followed the Chariot on the way. A few families with small portable tables loaded with offerings waited for the chariot to pass to make offerings.

Villagers lined the street.

The Offering Prayer Tray

The Offering Prayer Sets the devotees holding is a Steel Plate containing Banana, Betal Leaf, Coconut, Joss Sticks, Camphor, Fruits, Jasmine Garland and Sweets. The coconut is half into two and later to be used in front Lord Murugan as container of Blessing Fire.

Two high priests sit next to the statue of Lord Murugan high up in the Silver Chariot. These two priests attends to Offering Prayer Plates from the devotees one by one by blessing the plates in front statue of Lord Murugan. Into the half coconut, the Hindu priest would put a burning fire and each Prayer Plat is return to the devotee owner. The devotee receives back from the priest the "Lighted" Offering Plat and take the flaming coconut home as a blessing from Lord Murugan.

Many devotees made an effort to transfer the fire to an oil lamp on the family altar. Once on an lamp with oil constantly refilled, the "Blessing Fire" from god will continue to burn for the rest of the year... and many many years to come.

Such a simple yet meaningful ritual of establishing a link between a person with the divine thus attracted an constant increase of followers from the Chinese community each year.

Kavadi Bearer

Preparing the Kavadi Bearer for the 5 Km procession to Lord Arumugam Temple, Tawau

Jalan Utara Road was closed in the evening for the chariot procession in conjunction with the Thaipusam festival on Friday 17th January 2014

The procession will begin at the THIRUMURUGAN TEMPLE in Jalan Utara and proceed along the same road to the roundabout of old airport and return to the temple again.

The Thaipusam celebration this year is more special as 2014 is also Visit Malaysia Year.

	KAVADI BEARERS AND THE SCHOOL CHILDREN Kavadi procession on bear feet reroute a 3 Kilometers main roads from a small Hindu Shrine to the mother Murugan Temple. On the way passing through a primary school where school children watch with excitement but restrict within the school compound (for traffic safety reasons of the children)

Kavadi Procession THAIPUSAM 2014 TAWAU

Above : A Hindu devotee during Kavadi Procession in THAIPUSAM 2014 TAWAU 17-1-2014 FRI 9:16AM

Mortification of the flesh, piercing the skin, tongue, cheek and the back with hooks, skewers and long vel lances have become more common over the years to replace ordinary kavadi. Thaipusam is to celebrate Lord Murugan receiving a spear to defeat an evil demon and his army.

On this days, devotees perform various acts to show their devotion and faith; some bear the Kavadi (a physical burden) with or without sharp needles (vels) or hooks piercing their skin. Some bear less physically punishing Kavadi such as a pot of milk and in some cases, a bowl with a burning fire within.

The preparations for bearing a Kavadi starts 48 days before Thaipusam itself and in that period, the bearers undergo a strict regiment that includes a strict diet, prayers and abstinence. With that, they enter a trance on Thaipusam Day. This trance enables the devotees to endure and not bleed or feel any pain on the wounds suffered when the sharp needles (vels) pierce their skin.

January 29, 2014 02:08:02 PM

| HOME |