THAIPUSAM is an annual Hindu festival which draws the largest gathering in multi-racial Malaysia. This big festival is celebrated at various places in Malayisa like Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang etc in Jan or Feb.
The temple at the Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur, often attracts over one million devotees and tens of thousands of tourists.
On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.
The most spectacular practice is the vel kavadi, essentially a portable altar up to two meters tall, decorated with peacock feathers and attached to the devotee through 108 vels pierced into the skin on the chest and back.
Fire walking and flagellation may also be practiced. It is claimed that devotees are able to enter a trance, feel no pain, do not bleed from their wounds and have no scars left behind.
Believe it or not? Check this out in the clip below.
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