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THAIPUSAM
An exploration of faith, sacrifice and surrender
by Ramesh Ramakrishnan Iyer and Richard Seah
Additional inputs by V. S. Krishnan, Markandoo Paramasivam, Dillen Selvarajoo,
Maxby Chan, Aloysius Goh and Donna-Mae Therese De Cruz
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This book…
… is dedicated to the beautiful and powerful Lord Muruga and the enduring spirit of our brothers
and sisters who participate in the festival of Thaipusam – especially the kavadi carriers who fearlessly tread the hard path of faith, devotion and surrender.
… is a collaboration between Ramesh Ramakrishnan Iyer and Richard Seah, two Singapore-based
photographers who share a common interest in culture, the arts and spirituality. Both have been
shooting the Hindu festival of Thaipusam annually for a number of years and they felt that it is time
to showcase their pictures and do something that is useful.
Thaipusam is a festival that has many angles, like a diamond with facets reflecting what light we
shine at it. In modern Singapore, it is even more amazing to see such traditions and faith play out
right in the streets. There seems to be no qualms about visibly sharing your pain, piercings and the
tattoos. Some people feel that the fervour and passion are ever increasing and they pierce much
deeper into the heart of the matter, the zeitgeist – identity , recognition and togetherness.
The intention of this photo book is pure and simple – to offer insight, inquiry and inspiration. If
it leaves you with a thought of “hey that is interesting”, then we are on target. That’s it. There is no
malice or method to incite or hurt anyone’s feelings. There is no statement about these practices
and nothing Hindu or tribal or anime about the faith.
Ramesh and Richard have tried their best to provide background information that might help
you understand more about the festival. Some of their friends have generously volunteered to share
their experiences of having carried the kavadi at Thaipusam. This is a beginning of a conversation
and interpretation and they feel this effort should lead to more ideas, images and representations
of the Thaipusam festivals from all over the world. That is the hope.
… also represents an unabashed desire by two photographic artists to showcase their works. All
artists need an audience, without which their art is meaningless. We thank you for granting us that
audience and we hope that you enjoy what you see. If you do, please check out our other works,
available both in print and online, and help us spread our art.
… is the copyright of its authors, Ramesh Ramakrishnan Iyer and Richard Seah.
If you wish to reproduce any parts of this book, in any form whatsoever, kindly seek our permission first by writing to any of us at [email protected] or [email protected].
We thank you. Namaste.
© Copyright 2015 Ramesh Ramakrishnan Iyer and Richard Seah
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-981-09-7266-0
CONTENTS
Preface by V S Krishnan
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Narratives
Lord Muruga
Poems by Ramesh Ramakrishnan Iyer
God and friend
Southeast Asia
Incredibly valiant
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God of Gods
It is your love
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‘Everyone is a Hindu’
Am I this body 26
The star of poosam
It is all in the mind
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Kavadi
Bless me
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The kavadi legend
Trance 55
Is it painful
Music makes me dance 72
’Vel, Vel‘
With him
101
Renouncing the material Everything
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The ultimate reality
Trance
Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple
Personal sharings
Preparations A bond with God
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Music
by Dillen Selvarajoo
Young and old Beloveds
Being bigger, better 62
by Markandoo Paramasivam
Women kavadi bearers
Adornments
Sri Thendayuthapani Temple Destination
Photographers
Prayer 7
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Lord of Infinite Grace
Preface by V. S. Krishnan
Muruga. The very word spells charm, splendour, beauty, knowledge and power. The people worship Muruga as the Lord of love
and compassion. They admire Him, adore Him, respect him and
love Him; they find in him a divine and magnetic appeal.
Devotees believe that Muruga comes into their life and graces
them as God, helps them as a friend, guides them as Guru and
guards them as a saviour. This conviction can never be explained
but only experienced by one whose heart is filled with devotion. The Kanda Puranam, which describes the origin and purpose of Muruga, tells
that Muruga was not naturally born, but formed by the powerful flame of fire that
originated from the third eye of Lord Siva, the eternal reality. Yet Muruga excelled
in the knowledge and power of Siva. He even acted as Guru to Siva and gave
him enlightened advice. Such an unparalleled power was created to destroy the
demon Soorapadaman, who had a boon of immortality, and to protect devotees
from the world of illusion. Muruga is known as the epitome of knowledge, the all
powerful and the embodiment of beauty. He is the ultimate God – the God of
Gods.
He is described as an extension of Siva, the one without a second. He has the
unique combination of the power of Sakti (generative power) from Mother Parvati
and the power of knowledge from Father Siva. He appeared on earth with the
combination of all powers and knowledge to provide peace and security.
Having been nursed by the Karthigai maidens, who shine as brilliant stars in
the galaxy, and having brought up by Siva and Parvati with care and affection,
Muruga grew up as a handsome youth (Kumara). With the powerful vel (lance)
presented by Parvati, Muruga came to put an end to the atrocities of Soorapadman and other detractors. He restored peace and tranquillity on earth.
It is impossible to visualise Muruga without the vel – which represents not
only the power to destroy but also the power to protect. It is believed that the
power of the vel excels all the three divine weapons held by Siva (trishul or threepointed spear), Vishnu (discus) and Indira (vajrayudha, meaning thunderbolt
and diamond, a club with a spherical head).
The lance radiates the light of knowledge and is known as Kadir Vel. The vel of
Muruga is powerful enough to bring light of knowledge where there is ignorance.
Though many pundits have described Muruga and Vel in glorious terms, it was
the 15th century Tamil poet Arunagirinathar, who described the vel of Muruga
most beautifully, truthfully and completely.
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The poet Arunagirinathar described the vel as the weapon that destroyed the Krownja mountain,
symbolising the ego of Soorapadman. In Vel Vakuppu, Arunagirinathar says that the vel carries the
power to ward off the adverse effects of karma and to remove the fear of death. It brings confidence,
courage, happiness, health and prosperity. It guides the way to the Lotus Feet of Muruga.
Thaipusam marks the day that Parvati gave Muruga the powerful vel that destroyed the demon, Sooran. It is celebrated in
grand fashion at Palani in South India and there is an interesting story about how Muruga came to choose his abode there.
According to legend, Lord Siva one day brought a rare fruit of
knowledge and both his sons – Ganesha and Muruga – claimed
it. Lord Siva then put up a contest, offering the fruit to the one
who went round the universe and returned first.
Muruga went all over the universe mounted on his peacock.
Ganesha went around Siva-Parvati and claimed the fruit on the
grounds that one’s parents represented the whole universe.
Thus, Ganesha received the fruit of knowledge.
Addressing the disappointed Muruga, Parvati said: “You are the fruit”
(“Pazham Nee”), which is the reinstatement of the great words of Upanishad:
“You are That”. “The divinity is in you and you are God, you are the fruit of
knowledge and you are the embodiment of knowledge,” Parvati explained.
Muruga decided to renounce everything worldly and he proceeded to the
South and chose his abode at Palani. There, he appears as Jnana Pandita (the
personification of knowledge), radiating the light of knowledge and blessing
the devotees.
Despite being the Lord Supreme, Muruga stands atop Palani hill wearing
just bare loincloth as Andi Pandaram (penniless mendicant). His message is
clear – “Do not go after material objects. They are as transitory as bubbles in
the water.”
The poet Arunagirinathar says: “Just as your own body is not able to give
you shelter, your material possessions too would be of no use.”
Says Lakshminarayanan, a devotee from Kerala: “I go to Palani every auspicious day of Thaipusam not to seek favours. Rather than praying for fulfilment
of wishes, I pray that I should be blessed with a mind free from desires.”
Devotees like Lakshminarayanan come to Palani from different parts of
India and abroad just to get the divine “Muruga experience”. They are divided
by caste, class and regions but when it comes to Muruga worship; they sink
their differences and are united in single-minded devotion.
Many devotees undergo great physical hardship to express
their devotion. With the advent of Thaipusam, devotees start
observing austerities 41 days in advance. They observe silence
and celibacy. They believe that the body that grows and perishes
is not real. It should be used as a medium to reach Muruga.
They therefore take only what is necessary for bare subsistence.
They pierce the lance through their cheeks to highlight the fact that they
would bear pain to express their devotion to Muruga. They start their long
journey with vibhuti (white ashes) smeared all over the body, devotion in heart
and a kavadi on the shoulder. With great will power and determination, they
walk the long distance, chanting the names of God: “Hara Haro Hara Hara”.
They never care about comfort and their only objective is to immerse themselves in the grace of Muruga.
The practice of kavadi offering originated from a legend… Saint Agasthiar,
an ardent devotee of Lord Siva, had asked his disciple Idumbasuran to take
two hillocks, Sivagiri and Sakthigiri to the South for his worship. Idumbasuran
connected the hillocks with a wooden pole, tied the loose ends with a snake
and proceeded.
On reaching South, he placed them at a spot to rest. When he tried to
lift them again, he could not and he spotted a youth wearing loincloth and
holding a staff (dhanda) atop the hill. he child, claiming right over the hill, refused to move away. Idumban realised that the boy was Lord Muruga and paid
obeisance to Him. Lord Muruga showered His blessings and proclaimed that
anyone coming to his place with similar arch-like objects would be blessed.
Thus was born the kavadi pattern of worship. The lavadi gets its name by
its contents such as milk, flower, rose water≥ and even fish (Matsya Kavadi)
and snake (Sarpa Kavadi). There are artistes who swing and dance balancing
the Kavadi on their head.
There is a misconception that by observing the festival of Thaipusam, one
may gain something or succeed in achieving something. No, we would not
gain anything. In fact, we will be losing many things – things that obstruct our
vision and prevent us from reaching Muruga, such as our ignorance, our attachments and aversions, our karmas, our mind that chains us into the world
of illusion (Maya) and, last but not the least, our ego.
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Beloveds
The challenge of bearing a kavadi is never an individual effort. Much help is needed just
to take care of logistics. More importantly, participants need mental and moral support to
take on this challenging journey – not just the one at hand but, in many cases, a commitment to carry the kavadi for a number of years. They thus have to enlist the support
of family and friends, including priests, elders and children and especially their beloved. Spiritual friendship is very evident.
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Women kavadi bearers
In the old days, most kavadi bearers were men but increasingly, women do take part.
Women and children usually form part of the entourage. They carry just a milk pot over
their heads or, in some cases, a simple wooden-arch kavadi. Rarely does one see a woman
as the main kavadi bearer, but there are.
Of course the women do not get their entire bodies pierced. If at all, they might pierce
the area of the “third eye” between the eyebrows and the temples.
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Adornments
Modest dressing is obviously preferred at any place of worship or
religious festival. But Hinduism is highly tolerant and no one gets
excluded from Thaipusam for flaunting the hairstyle or hair colour –
or their wealth or even a fair bit of bare skin.
Even the devotees express their personalities and fashion
sense with tattoos and unique body piercings.
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Sri Thendayuthapani Temple
The Thaipusam procession ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank
Road. Also known as the Chettiars’ Temple or Subramaniam Temple, this is
one of the most important monuments for Hindus in Singapore.
It’s a 4.5 km walk from the starting point at the Sri Perumal temple at
Serangoon Road. Because of the burden of the kavadi, and also human traffic
congestion, devotees may take up to five hours to reach their destination.
The temple was built in 1859 by the Nattukkottai Chettiar community
about 35 years after the first Chettiars settled in Singapore.
The Chettiars are a mercantile community known for its philantrophy and
especially for building temples and schools. They observe Shaivism, a Hindu
sect that reveres Lord Shiva as the Supreme God – the creator, preserver,
destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. The temple is dedicated to the six-faced Lord Subramaniam, also known as
Lord Muruga, the son of Lord Shiva who is the focus of Thaipusam. Muruga
is also called Thendayuthapani, hence the temple’s name.
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The site, however, was used for worship even before the temple was built.
The Chettiars had installed a vel (spear) – a representation of Lord Muruga –
under a peepal tree where they offered their prayers. Also known as bodhi, the
peepal tree is considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists.
The vel was installed at the bank of a tank that collected fresh water from
a waterfall at the nearby hills, which is today Fort Canning Park. The Chettiars
took their baths there before offering their prayers and the location was thus
considered ideal for a temple.
A nearby railway line further provided transportation to and from Malaya,
where the Chettiars had also established their businesses.
The tree was uprooted when the government acquired the land and
redeveloped Tank Road. The site now forms part of the slip road in front of
the temple, connecting River Valley Road and Clemenceau Avenue.
Despite its historical significance, Sri Thendayuthapani Temple was only
recently declared a Singapore national heritage monument, in 2014.
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Destination
By the time the kavadi bearers reach their destination, they are tired and exhausted. Drawing upon all the
reserve energies, they perform a final dance, hand over their milk offering and anoint the Murugan Idol.
It is not over yet. The kavadi bearers then emerge from the temple to unhook themselves. For some,
the adrenaline rush is depleting and they are really flat out. Others remain high as they pray and enjoy
their accomplishment in a quiet way. Friends and Family join them to celebrate and offer sweet meats
and rice and other foods as prasadam (religious offerings) to everyone.
They then have to clean up, pack up and leave. It would have been hours of hard work, prayers and
religious devotion. Some devotees use this moment to thank everyone, including Lord Muruga, and ask
for good wishes – so that they might be able to do it again the year after.
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Photographers
Photographers are very much a part of the Thaipusam scene. Most are hobbyists, as Thaipusam
is not the sort of subject that could normally earn a living for professionals. Still, they are a mixed
bag, ranging from mobile phone shooters to veterans who continue to use only film.
Some might go once and have the attitude that it is always the same. For regulars like Ramesh
and Richard, the challenge is to produce something different - and hopefully better – each year.
They don’t always succeed. But they enjoy the process.
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