Thaipusam
Tamil-Malaysian devotee with kavadi at Penang's auspicious Thaipusam religious celebration, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, George Town, Peninsular Malaysia. Digital film scan, Asahi Pentax Spotmatic, circa 1973.
Every year on the day of the first full moon in late January or early February over a million pilgrims gather at various temples across Malaysia to celebrate Thaipusam, a vibrant Hindu religious festival in honour of Lord Subramaniam (also known as Lord Muruga, god of war in the Hindu-Tamil pantheon).
On this auspicious day of penance and thanksgiving, religious vows and karmic debts are fulfilled through ceremonial acts of devotional sacrifice and bodily self-mortification. The skin, tongue or cheeks of devotees (mostly male) are pierced with metal vel skewers or small spears. Devotees are worked into a trance-like state before the piercings, aided by a preparatory programme of fasting, meditation, prayers and chants.
This devotee, in a state of trance and aided by family members, carries a decorative shrine or kavadi at the Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Penang, the oldest Hindu temple on the island and one of the main starting points for the annual Thaipusam procession.
The motivation for devotional sacrifice in return for prayers answered is expressed succinctly by one pilgrim at the Penang celebrations: "I want to give thanks for being granted with good health, my career and wealth." Another pilgrim put it another way: “My husband has been carrying a kavadi every Thaipusam for more than 20 years out of faith that it will bring blessings and peace.”
Thaipusam is rooted in Hindu-Tamil legend brought to the Malayan peninsula by a diaspora of South Indian immigrants who came to work on the rubber estates during the British colonial administration in the late 18th-century.
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved
Rethinking Portraiture | Social Documentary | Fluidr Faves
Thaipusam
Tamil-Malaysian devotee with kavadi at Penang's auspicious Thaipusam religious celebration, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, George Town, Peninsular Malaysia. Digital film scan, Asahi Pentax Spotmatic, circa 1973.
Every year on the day of the first full moon in late January or early February over a million pilgrims gather at various temples across Malaysia to celebrate Thaipusam, a vibrant Hindu religious festival in honour of Lord Subramaniam (also known as Lord Muruga, god of war in the Hindu-Tamil pantheon).
On this auspicious day of penance and thanksgiving, religious vows and karmic debts are fulfilled through ceremonial acts of devotional sacrifice and bodily self-mortification. The skin, tongue or cheeks of devotees (mostly male) are pierced with metal vel skewers or small spears. Devotees are worked into a trance-like state before the piercings, aided by a preparatory programme of fasting, meditation, prayers and chants.
This devotee, in a state of trance and aided by family members, carries a decorative shrine or kavadi at the Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Penang, the oldest Hindu temple on the island and one of the main starting points for the annual Thaipusam procession.
The motivation for devotional sacrifice in return for prayers answered is expressed succinctly by one pilgrim at the Penang celebrations: "I want to give thanks for being granted with good health, my career and wealth." Another pilgrim put it another way: “My husband has been carrying a kavadi every Thaipusam for more than 20 years out of faith that it will bring blessings and peace.”
Thaipusam is rooted in Hindu-Tamil legend brought to the Malayan peninsula by a diaspora of South Indian immigrants who came to work on the rubber estates during the British colonial administration in the late 18th-century.
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved
Rethinking Portraiture | Social Documentary | Fluidr Faves