Thaipusam

The queue was long and reached up to a hundred metres. The door of the temple was narrow and only ten people could go in at a time. To add to that there were those who could not be bothered with the queue and were trying to squeeze in. Imagine the chaos! The festival that I was attending was “Thaipusam” the annual Hindu festival of penance.

Being only ten metres from the gate was encouraging for me. Finally, after having waited for about forty minutes, and with a great sense of achievement, I managed to enter the temple of Srinivasa Perumal. Inside,more chaos waited. There was standing room only and not much walking room. Anyway, I managed to reach the corner where my uncle stood with all his kavadi equipment. A kavadi consists of 108 spikes of about a metre long each. Also attached to the spikes are decorative plastic images of the Gods and Goddesses that we worship. The entire kavadi is fitted into a 50kg harness. The penance consists of the devotee – in this case my uncle – being pierced with the 108 spikes and carrying the harness and walking about five kilometres in the blazing afternoon sun, to the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple in Tank Road.

I looked at my uncle. After having fasted for a month and with a month’s growth of beard, he looked a little like a holy man. He grinned his welcome and I clasped my hands in greeting. Then it was time to prepare him for his ordeal.

I looked about me. All our friends and relatives were there -even though the day was not a public holiday. I assumed that all of them had taken leave or perhaps even fake medical leave. At exactly 1 p.m., we began the preparations. We began to chant “Vel Vel Vadi Vel”-the name of the Lord and within seconds Uncle Murali was thrown into a deep trance. The rest was easy. Another of my uncles, Uncle Marimuthu,systematically pierced the spikes all over his brother Uncle Murali did not even wince once. He just sat there with a glassy stare while he was being pierced 108 times.

When the kavadi was completed, we were ready for the procession. It was about 2 p.m. Soon we were on the road. Uncle set a good pace and we moved along fast. As we went we chanted the name of the Lord.

At the Thandayuthapani Temple we went to the sanctum of the temple and offered our devotions to the Lord. The next part of the ritual was the best. This was because I could lend a hand removing those awesome spikes. We led Uncle Murali to a corner and everyone lent a hand and the spikes were removed in less than two minutes.

I looked at Uncle Murali as he lay in Auntie Selvi’s lap. He was smiling, I went home after feeling elated and looking forward to the festival again the following year.

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