Thaipusam: On Needles and Pins in Singapore

During Singapore's Hindu festival of Thaipusam, the worshippers seem to defy the laws of nature. There are gory sights galore, as they pierce their bodies with sharp objects and carry the traditional heavy kavadi. Despite Singapore's hi-tech image, these ancient rites are still celebrated with unabated enthusiasm.

Imagine this: A Hindu temple, filled to the brim with people. A man, of Tamil extraction, surrounded by scores of onlookers, slowly begins to shiver and shake as if possessed by some demon. He seems to lose control over himself. As the shaking becomes more violent, the man screams and hollers and suddenly throws himself on the ground. He rolls about for a while, madly. Then he grabs a vicious looking skewer and, without batting an eyelid, pokes it right trough his tongue. Strangely, there is no blood. The people around him, prodded on by the ghastly sight, begin to shout ecstatically. "Vel! Vel!" - Spear! Spear! As if the needle wasn't torture enough, family members of the man now proceed to stick a few dozen limes, attached to fish hooks, into the man's back. Not just at random, but neatly in rows, hook by hook. A ghastly sight. The man's flesh is deeply pierced, but again, there's no blood. After all the hooks have been attached, the man grabs a pair of shoes. Not your ordinary leather sneakers, no, but a kind of wooden sandals, with long nails sticking out, pointing upwards. Any good fakir would love them. The man carefully places his soles on the nails and then ties the contraption firmly on to his feet. Then, he slowly begins to walk down busy Serangoon Road, the nails pricking painfully into his feet. Yet again - no blood. Out in the street, there are hundreds more of his strange ilk. They're all over the place, with hooks, nails and other sharp metal objects sticking in their apparently numb bodies. More battle cries of "Vel! Vel!" . fill the air. With all these entranced characters about, not to mention the thousands of ecstatic onlookers, one feels part of something supernatural. Or maybe just plain madness?

Welcome to sober, boring Singapore

Anybody, who thinks that Singapore has nothing "exotic" to offer, should visit it during the Tamil festival of Thaipusam. Taking place on the full moon day of the Tamil month Thai (Jan./Feb.), it is by far the most bizarre spectacle in the tiny island republic, an age-old mystical rite that defies rational explanation.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival honouring the god Murugan, who in Hindu mythology also appears under many other names - Karttikeya, Skanda, Subramaniam, Thandayuthapani, Kathiresan and Kataragama, to name but a few. In Hinduism, every deity has many different names, each representing a different divine aspect or quality.

During Thaipusam, Murugan's devotees go into trances, induced through prayer or sheer willpower. During these trances, they perform miraculous penances, seemingly stretching the boundaries of endurance and pain. Some devotees - the "beginners" so to say - only push skewers or needles through their tongues and cheeks. The more "advanced" poke hooks into the flesh of their backs; the hooks are attached to ropes, and these are fastened to little ceremonial carts. Thus, the carts are pulled through the streets, making for quite an outlandish sight.

The most respected feat though, is the wearing of a kavadi. These are big metallic frames, which can weigh up to 30 kilogrammes. At their upper end, they are adorned with imitation peacock feathers, a symbol of Murugan. The kavadi are worn on shoulder pads, but also have countless little hooks, which are attached to the carrier's body. Vessels full of milk, called palkuddam, may also be hung onto the contraption, giving it some extra weight and making the balance trickier. Ideally, none of the milk should spill.

David Henley / CPA

Singapore: Limes hanging by hooks from the back of a devotee, Thaipusam Festival.

As a rule, kavadi are worn by men; the women "only" skewer their tongue or cheeks, or carry small palkuddam full of milk, which they attach to their bodies with hooks. Gripped by ecstasy, many kavadi carriers begin to whirl around in a fast circular motion, making their kavadi look like blades in a giant mixer-grinder. Standing too close, one may incur some nasty cuts. The devotees on their part never lose a drop of blood from all the piercing. The wounds heal within minutes after the metal objects have been withdrawn, leaving no trace of scars. Anybody who has witnessed Phuket's Tetsakaan Kin Jae, or Vegetarian Festival, will recognise the similarities.

To wear a kavadi, long preparations are necessary. First, the devotees must abstain from meat, alcohol, cigarettes and sex for at least a week; some extend the period up to a month. All amusements, which are likely to distract their concentration, are to be avoided. The last few days before the big event will be spent in a deeply meditative mood, to gather the spiritual energy for the ordeal ahead. Many participants lovingly decorate their kavadi, an activity which in itself is regarded as a kind of meditation or worship. The kavadi can be bought in special shops for S$ 1,000-5,000 (17,000-85,000 Baht), depending on the amount of decoration. Some devotees take pride in making them themselves, others buy them in India.

Carrying a kavadi is regarded as the ultimate show of devotion to Murugan, a very special sacrifice. In fact, kavadi translates as "a sacrifice with every step". In turn, the carriers ask a favour of Murugan, like the fulfilment of a wish or the curing of a sick family member. Others show their gratitude for a boon granted.

As with all Hindu festivals, the origin of Thaipusam is based on an ancient legend. Once upon a time, the saint Agastya was in need of some special plants to perform religious sacrifices. The plants were growing only on the mystical mountains Shaktigiri ("Mountain of Goddess Shakti") and Shivagiri ("Mountain of God Shiva"). The saint asked his servant Idumban to fetch him the mountains, so that he could pick the plants himself. Idumban, trusty servant that he was, lifted both mountains and tied them to the ends of a pole. Then he shouldered the pole, carefully balancing the mountains. As he was going along, invisibly, Murugan sat down on one of the mountains, making the load too heavy for poor Idumban. Desperate to fulfil his chore, Idumban began to pray fervently to Murugan, asking him for strength to carry on. After a while, the god appeared to him. Murugan promised that from now on everybody who showed his devotion by carrying a heavy load and who sacrificed sandalwood, milk and flowers, would be blessed.

According to a rival legend, Idumban was a demon, who stole the mountains, only to be defeated in battle by Murugan.

Rainer Krack / CPA

Singapore: Details of a pierced devotee, Thaipusam Festival.

Whatever legend one may subscribe to, it is certain that the festival has been celebrated for at least 2,000 years, possibly much longer. In Southern India, Murugan was worshipped long before the Aryans brought the Vedic religion (the forerunner of Hinduism) from their Central Asian home into India. The Aryan migration into India lasted until about 1000 B.C. Despite their quest to conquer the original, "heathen" inhabitants of India, the Aryans also absorbed many of their ancient deities into their own religion.

In India, Thaipusam celebrations are still held at Palani, in the Southern state of Tamil Nadu, in spite of an official ban on religious self-torture. The most bizarre South Indian rite, also a survivor from pre-Hindu days, is the now rare "hook swinging": The participants dangle from trees, held by ropes which are attached to their backs by meat hooks. A weird sight if ever there was one! Strangely, the skin holds firm and nobody crashes down. Neighbouring Sri Lanka celebrates the Kataragama Festival (in a town also named Kataragama), which is basically the same as Thaipusam. Little wonder, as Kataragama and Murugan are one and the same deity.

In Hindu mythology, Kataragama, a.k.a. Murugan, is regarded as the god of war, who - being of a very volatile and revengeful nature - has to be constantly appeased with sacrifices. This is taken especially serious in Sri Lanka, by Hindus as well as Buddhists. New car owners in Sri Lanka often undertake their maiden journey to Kataragama, to invoke the god's blessings.

On the same day as in Singapore, Thaipusam is also celebrated in various places in Malaysia - in Georgetown, Ipoh, Johor Bahru and at the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur. The latter attracts well over half a million worshippers. A few years back, two Americans were seen carrying kavadi there, causing quite a sensation.

As can be expected in well-regulated Singapore, even the eccentricities of Thaipusam follow strictly laid out lines. The kavadi carriers have to register at the Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road and pay a registration fee of S$30 (500 Baht). The height of the kavadi is restricted to two metres, so as to avoid serious bodily harm and prevent the carriers from entering into an unholy competition with one another.

Rainer Krack / CPA

Singapore: Kavadi carrier in procession, Thaipusam Festival.

Having "donned" their kavadi at the Perumal Temple, the carriers start out on a long and often painful procession. The route leads through Central Singapore to the Thandayuthapani Temple (also Chettiar Temple) in Tank Road, four kilometres away. All along the way, the participants have strictly to adhere to their allotted traffic lane; hundreds of policemen see to it that they do. The playing of musical instruments and tape recorders is prohibited. The various Hindu organisations also try to discourage the singing of frivolous songs, which is regarded as a threat to the religious spirit of the festival. All too often, the devotees become over-exuberant and sing bawdy songs from popular Hindi or Tamil movies. The use of fire-crackers, common practice during the celebrations in Sri Lanka, is punishable by jail in Singapore.

To prevent dehydration and exhaustion, specially erected stalls along the procession route supply free refreshments. The stalls - in Tamil thanir pandal or "water stations" - are sponsored by local companies or religious organisations. Still, occasionally kavadi carriers collapse under the weight, especially novices to the game. According to wide-spread belief, an unsuccessful attempt means that the carrier must have committed "sins" during his pre-festival penances. If the first procession went successfully, many kavadi carriers will go through the ritual every year, soon exhibiting a thorough professionalism.

Unlike other traditions in fast developing Singapore, Thaipusam is in no danger of extinction. In fact, the number of participants has increased over the last few years.

Only 7.1 per cent out of Singapore's 3 million inhabitants are Indians, mostly of Tamil extraction. About two thirds of them are Hindus. If the trend continues, next year the shouts of "Vel! Vel!" may be louder still, and more skewers and hooks will be seen in downtown Singapore. And if anybody is instantly blessed by it all, it must be the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. Even they couldn't have invented a better tourist attraction than this.

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