Thaipusam | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Thaipusam is one of three festivals celebrating aspects of the Hindu deity Lord Murugan, the others being Pankuni Uttiram (March–April) and Vaikasi Visakam (May–June). It falls on the first month of the Tamil year, Thai, on the day closest to the full moon when the constellation Pusam is in the ascendant. In one founding charter, it marks the occasion when Lord Murugan received his lance (vel), which symbolizes knowledge and wisdom. The mythological attributes of Lord Murugan are complex; he is variously depicted as a god-king, a warrior, an ascetic youth, a teacher, a divine lover, and a personal savior.

In Southeast Asian countries where diaspora southern Indian communities are sizeable, Thaipusam is the most visible and spectacularly celebrated Hindu festival, attracting massive crowds of pilgrims and curious spectators alike. In Malaysia, the Batu Caves shrine complex, situated some seven miles from the Kuala Lumpur city center, is the largest and most well-known pilgrimage destination for both locals and foreigners. The celebration begins, before dawn, with a procession of a brightly decorated chariot bearing the deity through the city streets and then onward to the Batu Caves shrine. During this time, pilgrims make supplications or perform various devotional acts in fulfillment of vows or as penance. Heads are shaved, and free food and drink are distributed without discrimination. Some pilgrims carry kavadi ("ritual burden") for a distance, after a stipulated period of ritual preparation (e.g., fasting, abstinence, and chanting of hymns). There are various kinds of kavadi. Pots of milk are common with women and children; for men the typical kavadi consists of a metal or wooden frame decorated with an assortment of peacock feathers, flowers, colored paper, styrofoam, and other paraphernalia, which is borne on the shoulders. Additionally, many young men pierce their bodies with numerous hooks and skewers after entering a trance state.

As a complex public religious event, Thaipusam has many facets and meanings, including individual selffulfilment, different emphases of Hindu spirituality, and as an expression of ethnic Tamil group identity in the context of religious and ethnic pluralism in countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

Babb, Lawrence. (1976) Thaipusam in Singapore: Religious Individualism in a Hierarchical Culture. Singapore: National University of Singapore.

Clothey, Fred W. (1978) The Many Faces of Murukan: The History and Meaning of a South Indian God. The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton.

Collins, Elizabeth Fuller. (1997) Pierced by Murugan's Lance. Ritual, Power, and Moral Redemption among Malaysian Hindus. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press.

Lee, Raymond L. M., and Susan E. Ackerman. (1997) Sacred Tensions. Modernity and Religious Transformation in Malaysia. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina.

Sinha, Vineeta. (1993) "Hinduism in Contemporary Singapore." In Indian Communities in Southeast Asia, edited by Kernial Sandhu Sandhu and A. Mani. Singapore: Times Academic Press and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

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