Thaipusam Festival

Welcome to Singapore!  This is the first of several Singpore entries.  One entry isn't enough as Singapore boasts three distinctive cultures, and has alot to see.  Muslims live in harmony with Hindus and Christians (and anyone else who lives here).  Singapore seems to have accomplished what the rest of the world can't seem to tackle, just getting along.  Singapore is a fantastic city and country!  Arriving shortly after midnight, we taxied over to our hotel to find out that the booking service did not work and the hotel was sold out.  This was due to the "Indian Festival" we were informed.  The hotel clerk proved to be an outstanding individual, taking the initiative and finding us accomodations just down the street for less money than his hotel would have been.  He even told us to come back for more assistance if we didn't like the room!  Plus points for manners and going the extra mile!  If they do this for their non-guests, imagine how service oriented they are to their guests.    The first thing we noticed is that Singpore is incredibly clean, and safe.  We were walking around at 1 a.m. without so much as hint of dodgy activity.  Our hotel proved to be safe, basic and just fine for people who have been travelling for 23 hours.  (Oh, we did get business class for the Japan to Singapore route too, but 23 hours on planes is tough no matter how big your seat is...really) We promptly went to sleep. 

a Your Thaipusam Walking Shoes

We awoke later that morning (I awoke about 2 hours later and thought about how long adjusting 19 hours would take,  jetlag and my future) and started our exploration of the city.  Starting out toward "Little India" we noticed deserted streets and wondered "where is everyone?"  Foggy and jet-lagged, we crossed the canal to the Muslim quarter, visited a mosque for which we were provided robes to conceal our inappropriate attire, and stopped at Sleepy Sams for a cup of coffee.  Sleepy Sams is a travellers hangout, with knowledgable staff and wall to wall backpackers.  Sipping our coffee, we were reminded that today was the Indian Festival which started at dawn and continued all day.  This explained the deserted streets in Little India.  An Aussie backpacker gave us her map (she informed us it was "crap" as North was not oriented on the map and to adjust accordingly).   We rushed out to go find the "Indian Festival".  The "Indian Festival" is really the festival of Thaipusam (google this for a full explanation).  The main attraction  (for tourists anyway) is the carrying of kavadis (semicurcular metal and wood structures) between two temples for about 4 km.  This act represents the offering of one's burden to Lord Subramaniam.  It is believed that the more effort and hardship experienced when carrying the kavadis, the more generous Lord Subramaniam will be in fulfilling his devotee's wishes (sounds like the "Mary" day in Mexico).  Kavadis could be displayed in a museum of torture as they involve multiple piercing rods and if that isn't enough, spiked shoes.  The kavadis are carried with the weight supported on the shoulders and waist.  Most people wear a belt in which metal rods are placed to support the majority of the weight, but some (extreme devotees) drive the metal rods directly into their waistline (OUCH!).  All of the devotees have hooks or metal spokes piercing their bodies from the kavadi.  All of them do the trek barefoot or if they really want some suffering, sandals with spikes coming out the top. 

b Got posts?

On our way to find the origin of the festival, Laura was approached by "Nathan", who asked if we needed help (Nathan was the second person to do this, people here are incredibly nice).  Nathan is Indian and seemed to take it upon himself to be our personal guide for the Thaipusam festival.  This was excellent as he included detailed explanations of all aspects of the kavadis preparation, and we felt no hesitation to walk through religious areas as we had our inside man leading the way.  We walked in to the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple which is the beginning and staging area for the trek to the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple.  Talk about a change of worlds!  This rivaled anything in Mexico on our "strange events" scale. hundreds of shoeless people packed into the temple and staging area, incense burning, bells jingling, chanting, singing, it was almost like being back at a Grateful Dead parking lot.  We walked back to the area where the devotee's prepare for their trek to watch the various stages of preparation.  The devotee's prepare by meditating and are in a trance like state and not supposed to feel pain.  Ummmmm, I don't see how...having four quarter inch posts inserted into your waist to hold up 40 pounds of metal and wood, followed by dozens of piercings in the back and front has to hurt! After the kavadis is assembled and pierced to its' devotee, the devotee dances around (this allows for spirits to lighten the load), and then they take off on their trek.  Other devotees carry pots of milk, or tow shrines from their back piercings, but suffice to say there  is alot of suffering.  The rest of the Indian community celebrates along the road.  This is sort of their Thanksgiving so food and drink are given away to all who attend.  We followed along the road, to enter the final temple and bid the festival farewell.  Our feet hurt and we were tired so I can't imagine what those carrying kavadis felt like.  Perhaps there is an endophin rush that keeps them in nirvana.  We wandered back to our hotel, marvelling at Singapore's integration of modern high-rise architechture with colonial  traditions and called it a night. 

Big man walking

O.k, so I've tried without success to upload photos, so you'll have to wait on those. :( We also have video of the festival which travelpod will also accomodate, once we find a decent connection.  More to come...

c Kavadis

d Tow the line

e Kavadis back