Saturday, January 30, 2010

Thaipusam

Sitting in our apartment, we keep hearing cheering and whistling. We knew that it was Thaipusam, but we hadn't seen it yet, so tonight we ventured out. Right outside of our apartment, there is a huge festival march going on. Basically loads of people walk from this one Hindu temple near Clarke Quay to this other temple in Little India. Some of the people have really big, heavy float-like things balancing on them. Others have drums. Others have vases with things inside, carried on their head. There are tons of people, and there is so much energy. The guys get these hooks stuck into their skin (which you can see in the photos), and they spin around and dance when the music plays. Thousands of people line the streets. I thought there would be more tourists (or non-Indians at least), but I only saw about ten the whole time. It seemed like a lot of drinking, and a lot of happiness. Play the videos. It's worth it. Turn up your volume also. (By the way - the swastika is still just a religious symbol, nothing related to Hitler, but it shocks me every time, so we had to take a photo!).

Also - the mullet was just the icing on the cake of a cool night.










2 comments:

DeDe said...

Thaipusam is celebrated on the 15th day of Shevat -tu b'Shevat , I think similarities involve drinking.

loved the photos and videos

I can send you photos of 15 Jewish people drinking 4 cups of different kosher Israeli wine and eating lots of fruit, not so interesting.. ( we would have had Sue and Sandy, but they are travelling the globe)

Matt and Melanie Hildebrandt said...

tu b'shvat...thaipusam...same thing!