By coincidence, we were in Penang during Thaipusam. It’s celebrated in relatively few places in this part of the world, so many people come to the celebration in Penang — reportedly 1 million Malaysians, Burmese, and Thais were visiting yesterday.
I’m not at all clear on my facts, here. My understanding is that (in Penang) Thaipusam involves two opposite-direction processions on the same road. Ganesh climbs up the hill to the Botanical Garden to visit the temple of his brother Murugan, and Murugan climbs down the hill to visit Ganesh’s temple.
Thaipusam is when you pay back Murugan (or someone else? I’m confused.) for services rendered during the year. Some wash the streets with coconut juice before the processions pass by, some carry milk up the hill to wash the statue, and some perform outlandish feats of strength involving carrying weights and piercing themselves with hooks and skewers.
Pragmatically, quite a few local Chinese seem to attend the festival and make offerings as well — our (Chinese) cab driver indicated that the Chinese locals tend to opt for the coconut option.
When the more earnest devotees walked by, it was impossible not to wonder the source of their debt. Made a killing in the stock market? Barely escaped being caught in bed with the mistress? Early departure of mother-in-law? Finally reached level 70?
We were walking downhill, opposite most of the traffic. I commented that the shrine-carrying guys looked really really tired — a few minutes later we discovered that we were just a block uphill from where all the sound systems were, and lots of guys were dancing and dancing and dancing, all the while balancing these things on their heads and shoulders. Unlike the guys uphill, they looked like they were having a great time.
