Kuala Lumpur – Thaipusam

I’m jumping out of sequence because there is too much to write and sometimes it becomes disjointed.

Be prepared for a sensory overload, well we were warned! I’m afraid I cannot share the smell of incense and food with you.

We met the friend of one of our hosts who offered to take us the celebration of Thaipusam. Offerings and sacrifice is made to Lord Murga god of War and Wisdom (Hmm do those two go together?) during this celebration.

I’m so glad we had Miguel to show us around. We would have missed so much without him. He is Dutch but has lived in Malaysia. He is very tall and this was an advantage for us as it got very crowded and easy to get separated.

The pictures will speak volumes but, first I needed the loo! And to my surprise it was a very orderly affair, not a long single queue however. You picked a door and waited, no jumping to another door. The only issue arose for me was that my door did not have a handle inside and I got locked in! After a bit of loud knocking a kind soul let me out! I’m struggling with basic Malay so shouting was no use!

The event takes place at the Batu Caves. The pilgrims wear yellow and often have their heads shaved, and covered in a yellow paste this includes women and children.

Women and a few men will carry a milk churn on their heads as an offering.

All this sounds fairly simple until you see the steps. The noise of the music is phenomenal and relentless. What is astonishing to me is the Macaques don’t seem to mind and sit and snatch food from the unwary.

How anyone finds their shoes afterwards is a mystery.

As part of the ceremony there is a sort of penance/ritual walk by some men, who prepare for this 6 weeks ahead, fasting and various rituals including celibacy and meditation to get them into a trance like state before having their bodies pierced and sometimes their faces. If that isn’t enough they carry a heavy burden up to a 100KG in a procession followed by drummers and helpers. You can see what they carry in the videos below.

The noise was phenomenal but whole families were present even tiny babies.

We would not have seen some of the preparation for this without Miguel, he knew exactly where to take us which was a short walk away from the temple caves.

We were the only white faces there and we were there for hours, time escaped us it was so mesmerising!

Some of the videos and Photos were taken by Tatjana.