KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, February 11, 2006: More than a million Hindu devotees converged at the Sri Subramaniyar Temple grounds in Batu Caves here Saturday to fulfil vows and pay penitence in conjunction with the Thaipusam festival which began Friday night. Thaipusam is celebrated by Hindus in remembrance of the Goddess Parvathi who gave her son Lord Muruga a holy spear to fight evil. The festival, which is celebrated throughout the country, began early today with devotees wanting to fulfil vows carrying the kavadi (mini-chariot), paal kudam (milk offerings) and shaving their heads bald, climbing up the 272 steps to the temple to complete the ritual. An estimated 20,000 kavadis of various sizes and colors and 10,000 paal kudam were carried by the devotees over a distance of one kilometer to the Sri Subramaniyar Temple where the statue of Lord Murugan resides.
Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and wife Datin Seri Indrani were among the dignitaries who came to the temple, accompanied by the president of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple committee, R. Nadarajah. This year’s celebrations also had an added attraction – a 42.7 metre-tall gold colored statue of Lord Murugan positioned at the entrance of the temple. It is the tallest statue of Lord Murugan in the world. As usual, the festival also attracted throngs of tourists who did not want to miss the annual event.
Catherine Fallon, 26, from Washington in the United States said she came to Malaysia for the sole purpose of seeing the celebrations here as they were grander than other countries such as India.
In Penang, thousands of devotees including from Kedah, Perlis and the south as well as hundreds of tourists descended on the Arulmigu Balathandayuthabani Temple in Jalan Kebun Bunga here for the festival.