Experiencing Thaipusam Hindu Festival in Penang, Malaysia
Thaipusam is a Tamil Hindu festival celebrated on the first full moon day of the Tamil month. 7% of people in Malaysia are Tamil HIndu and Penang is no exception. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Hindu god Murugan over the demon Surapadman.
This year it was celebrated between the 23rd and the 26th of January, which meant that we got to see the celebration in Kuala Lumpur on the 23rd (see this post) and in Penang on the 24th, 25th and 26th (see this post for Penang). Part of this festival involves shaving and painting the heads yellow, bringing milk to the temples and pouring it on the statue of god Murugan, walking a carriage with sacred cows, or even piercing the people’s skin and walking a carriage that is attached to the piercings.Â
We saw all the things except for the piercing and it was quite impressive the amount of people that attended such celebrations.
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