Comments on: Thapusam

Thapusam

Joey Michaels — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:13:29 -0800

Thaipusam. "The Hindu people are intense about their religion, and take some extraordinary measures to display their devotion. A good example is the Thaipusam festival." Warning - images may be disturbing to some people! (more inside)

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:13:48 -0800

I was dangeorusly close to derailing the excellent FPP on Mishima Yukio with this information on one of the most fascinating religious festivals in the world. I believe it is a worthwhile FPP on its own, but I have to thank adamgreenfield and cnx for inspiring me to find these sites again.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:17:04 -0800

Dangerously close? I mean... how dangerous was it?

By: cnx

cnx — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:21:54 -0800

Thank you and you're welcome! That level of spiritual devotion is difficult to match.. well, without scars.

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:27:19 -0800

While I was living in Malaysia I had the fortune to visit the Batu Caves during the festival (the caves are the centre of the Thaipusam festival in Kuala Lumpur) and it was incredible. I climbed to the top of the few hundred steps and looked down at a mass of humanity. There was this strange energy in the air too. And some of those piercings are incredible. They have bloody limes on the end of them. Lime juice in an open wound has gotta sting.

By: hammurderer

hammurderer — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:45:48 -0800

Are there posts on Metafilter that aren't on the front page? Where can I find these posts?

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:12:00 -0800

xmutex: We're talking blood flying twenty feet over the Berlin wall close. Seriously. Lives would have been lost. --- dazed_one: I have not had the honor of seeing the festival live. My entire exposure to it was as part of a seminar on Southeast Asian Theatre. That being said, the limes are what get me every time I look at images of Thaipusam, too.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:33:43 -0800

[ Thanks for sharing ]

By: KnitWit

KnitWit — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:48:21 -0800

And most of my Hindu friends equate this with Rattlesnake handling Christians. It's there, but most people think they're insane.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:52:00 -0800

a crazed fundy is still a crazed fundy by any name.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:54:24 -0800

but at least these folks only do things to their own bodies, not try to enforce their devotion on others. It's really interesting, and kinda gross--i'm glad they aren't permanently hurt by it.

By: skallas

skallas — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:58:58 -0800

So where are the women? Are they just smarter than these idiots or not allowed to try?

By: plep

plep — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 00:07:39 -0800

I must admit to being a bit of a fan of Thaipusam. Thanks for the link. A Chinese-Malaysian friend of mine gave this a go a few years back - it was certainly a memorable experience for him.

By: plep

plep — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 00:23:34 -0800

Salon article on Thaipusam. 'It is more disturbing to see women in trances than to see men similarly affected. The women in the throes of religious ecstasy -- with their hair unbound and uncombed, tongues artificially reddened with saffron powder and lewdly flitting in and out of their mouths, crazy/sensual smiles, eyes rolling and breasts and hips undulating -- violate even my notions of propriety on a deeply visceral level. It is an abandonment of self-control, at once spiritual and lewdly sexual. In history one reads of such phenomena. In Greece, according to "The Bacchae" of Euripides, the Dionysian rites are said to have deeply disturbed some elements of the community. '
So women do participate, and not just in a supporting role; but I don't think they are allowed to be pierced - I don't think that the piercees are allowed contact with women for about a month before the festival (on the grounds that the pent-up sexual passion is sublimated into religious passion); they also have to stick to a vegetarian diet before Thaipusam. As far as I know, Thaipusam is mostly limited to the Tamils of Singapore and Malaysia, although sometimes people from other communities participate - Hinduism is a very diverse religion.
Whatever you think of this festival, the human mind (its capacity for faith and the sheer self-control required for this) is an amazing thing.

By: niceness

niceness — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 06:02:02 -0800

I've experienced Thaipusam at Batu Caves in Malaysia and the women are an integral part – carrying (heavy looking) metal containers of milk on their heads and many (if not most) with their tongues pierced with skewers, some have them through their cheeks. The year I was there it was estimated a million people visited the caves over the two days of the festival. Inside the caves is a sight to behold – a seething mass of people, colours, an overpowering smell of camphor and off-milk, smashed coconuts galore. Also worthy of note is the lack of aggression from the devotees towards the many tourists, mingling with the crowds waiting for a great (ie. horiffic) photo opportunity. I can just see this up there with Pamplona, Munich, Amsterdam, Goa, etc, on the gap year trail.