The Hindu people are intense about their religion, and take some extraordinary measures to display their devotion.
Thaipusam is the feast for the son of Shiva, Lord Subramanian. It's celebrated annually, in January or February (
Thaipusam falls on a full moon day in the auspicious 10th Tamil month of Thai when the constellation of Pusam, the star of well-being, rises over the eastern horizon.
Lord Subramaniam is the universal granter of wishes. All those who wish to ask for a future favor, fulfill a vow in return for a granted favor, or to repent for past sins will participate in this festival. To many Thaipusam is the day of thanksgiving or atonement for wrongs.
There is a period of preparation for Hindus who take part in the procession on Thaipusam. That preparation includes fasting and prayer, and also involves other abstinence and exercises designed to spiritually prepare the participants, at the beginning of the procession participants are induced to enter a religious trance in order to tolerate the pain involved like piercing their bodies with skewers. Several hundred devotees spear their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods - often a meter long - and pierce their chests and backs with small, hook-like needles in penance, devotee stands in a trance in the dawn light after weeks of rigorous abstinence.
Spectacular edifices or Kavadi s are often carried or pulled by the devotees with chains and ropes anchored in the skin of their backs or chests. Some also carry Kavadis made of wood or metal adorned with pictures or statues of Hindu deities, flowers and peacock plumes.
Others shave their heads bald as a symbol of humility and atonement. Many observe a strict vegetarian diet for about 40 days and renounce all forms of comfort and pleasure-giving activities. The 40 days are spent in meditation and prayer.
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