Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated by the Tamil community, particularly in the Tamil Nadu state of India and among Tamil communities around the world, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. The festival typically falls in January or February, during the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai.
Devotees offer fruits and yellow or orange colored flowers to Lord Muruga. They wear yellow or orange colored dress. These two colors are identified with Muruga. Some people carry pots of milk on their head.
Celebrations:
- Offerings and Prayers: Devotees make offerings of fruits, flowers, and milk to Lord Murugan. They also engage in prayers and chants.
- Public Participation: Thaipusam is a public event with large processions, music, and dance, creating a vibrant and colorful atmosphere. The festival draws not only devotees but also spectators who come to witness the elaborate rituals and displays of devotion.
Rituals and Practices:
- Kavadi Attam: One of the most striking aspects of Thaipusam is the Kavadi Attam, a ceremonial sacrifice and offering performed by devotees. They carry a Kavadi, a semicircular, decorated canopy supported by a wooden rod that they balance on their shoulders. Some devotees engage in extreme forms of devotion, such as piercing their skin, tongue, or cheeks with skewers.
- Pilgrimage and Processions: Devotees often undertake a pilgrimage to a temple of Lord Murugan. In Malaysia, the Batu Caves temple near Kuala Lumpur is a major pilgrimage site, attracting hundreds of thousands of devotees each year.
- Fasting and Penance: Many devotees observe strict fasting and undertake penance in the days leading up to Thaipusam, as an act of purification and devotion.
Global Celebrations:
- Malaysia: The Batu Caves in Malaysia hosts one of the largest Thaipusam celebrations in the world. Devotees from across the country and abroad gather here to participate in the festivities.
- Singapore: The festival is also celebrated with great fervor in Singapore, with processions and rituals at temples such as the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple and the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple.
- Sri Lanka: In Sri Lanka, Thaipusam is celebrated by the Tamil community with processions and rituals dedicated to Lord Murugan.
इस आर्टिकल को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें