Thaipusam, a Tamil Hindu Celebration in Singapore

 

 A week ago I posted an essay on my literary site about anthropomorphism. I reported on a discussion I had in 1998 in Hyderabad, India with a colleague when we were in the Birla Mandir Hindu temple about how Hindu gods and goddesses have human features.  Here is the link:

 https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2021/10/anthropomorphism-from-deity-to-desert.html

I also mentioned that I had visited Calcutta in the late 1970s, as well as Mumbai during the same trip to Hyderabad. So I received a few emails asking if I have photos from these trips.

Well, I have posted photos from Mumbai in the following two posts: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4995164429340748464/1810982952832485338 and https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2013/05/mumbai.html but I am unable to find photos from Calcutta. In the past 40 years I have vagabonded the planet and often have left paper documents and photos behind.

But in my search for old photos, I came across a few about Thaipusam that I have taken in the 2000s (I have signed the prints but did not put down the date…)

… Thaipusam is a festival celebrated in countries where the Tamil Hindu communities are predominant, such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Canada among others. It takes place on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai, usually January or February of each year. Devotees walk to the local Tamil temple carrying a pot of milk but also they pierce their skin, cheeks and tongue with thin but long skewers called vel. This ritual of flesh mortification is part of their soul’s purification before they enter the temple.

The march to the temple is though a dance called kavadi dance, where a large semicircular canopy, often quite decorated is carried by the devotees showing their pierced body. From a distance it may look like they are holding a large, ornate umbrella but a closer look shows the ritual of soul purification.

… On that January, a colleague who has seen many a Thaipusam celebration in Singapore picked me up from the hotel to see the procession.

“Too bad you take only B&W photos” he said, “look how delightful the colours are.”

Indeed, not only were the kavadi ornate in gold, yellow, white, and red but also the women attending the ceremony were in traditional Indian silk dresses.  It was a wonderful scene.

So I took a few photos with my Nikon F2.  The photo at the outset shows the canopy and the one below a close up of the back of another devotee displaying the ritual body piercing.

… I was delighted to find these old photographs. Then I checked and there are many wonderful colour photos of Thaipusam on the internet covering celebrations from many countries.

My black and white photography is photojournalistic as always – trying to tell a story rather than dazzle the viewer’s eyes.

October 24, 2021

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021