Oh, what they do to be blessed by their god. The Hindus in Malaysia have an annual festival to get blessings from their lord Murugan and to give offerings to him. They carry
kavadis (=burdens)and
vels (=spears) and hooks in their bodies as a promise to their god. They pray to the god Murugan (for example to get healthy, to get children, good grades at school etc), and in return they do this, as kind of a "thank you" or a "please". In Penang they walk approx. 4 km (from one temple to another) with the spears and hooks in their body (some of them dragging wagons up to 2 tons), and then they take them out. They say that they feel spiritually cleansed after this, and that it doesn't hurt. If it hurts, or if you bleed, you haven't done proper fasting. (You have to fast and be a vegetarian for 40 days before Thaipusam.) We got to see this in Penang and heard that the people attending or watching were up to 500,000 people. In Kuala Lumpur the celebration is even bigger and attracts many more people. The devotees who carry the burdens have to walk 17 km before they can take them out... This makes me happy that I'm not a Hindu.
Piercing through the skin with the hooks (in total 69 hooks - 30 on each side) The red colour is not blood, but red dust/ashes they put on before starting the piercing.
A man being pierced through his cheaks. He screamed like a posessed man and his wife and daughter were standing close to him, watching the whole procedure, looking quite anxious...
Small children were also watching the parade, and the piercing seemed so natural to everyone, even the family members who were sad to see their fathers/brothers in such a state.
We followed a family through the parade. This girl was happy to celebrate Thaipusam, and her uncle (the picture below) had MANY spears through his skin. If anyone came near his spears he got terrible pains.
This man was screaming like mad and looked like an animal. They played loud music and sang to get people in a trance.
Piercing through the skin with the hooks (in total 69 hooks - 30 on each side) The red colour is not blood, but red dust/ashes they put on before starting the piercing.
A man being pierced through his cheaks. He screamed like a posessed man and his wife and daughter were standing close to him, watching the whole procedure, looking quite anxious...
Small children were also watching the parade, and the piercing seemed so natural to everyone, even the family members who were sad to see their fathers/brothers in such a state.
We followed a family through the parade. This girl was happy to celebrate Thaipusam, and her uncle (the picture below) had MANY spears through his skin. If anyone came near his spears he got terrible pains.
6 comments:
Deilige bilder fra en fin serimoni. Virkelig koselige bilder :)
Hei Inki!
Så kjekt å lese bloggen din! Så du studerer religion? Hvor lenge blir du i Asia. Utrolig fine bilder! Det er veldig interessant å lese det du skriver om.
Sissil (Hald)
Så kjekt at du leser bloggen min, Sissil. :) Jeg studerer religion dette semesteret, som en del av lærerutdannelsen min. Blir i Asia til slutten av april. Digger det! :)
Både kjekt og ekkelt å lese og sjå bloggen din. Du gjer han veldig interessant!
ÅÅa så spennende!! =) Så pass ja, så utrolig kjekt! Gleder meg til å lese videre om alle opplevelsene dine. Lykke til. Klem sissil
ÅÅa så spennende!! =) Så pass ja, så utrolig kjekt! Gleder meg til å lese videre om alle opplevelsene dine. Lykke til. Klem sissil
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