The biggest Thaipusam festival is held annually at Batu Caves, Selangor and has become one of Malaysia key tourism attraction with hundreds of thousands devotees, tourist and visitors flocking the compound of Batu Caves Lord Murugan Temple to perform or watch the colorful and exotic Hindu religious processions.

The 272 steps to the hilltop temple and the 42.7m high Lord Murugan statue. Batu Caves before and during Thaipusam.

According to Hindu lore, Thaipusam is dedicated to hindu god Murugan, the son of Shiva and Parvati, to commemorate the occurrence when Murugan was presented a mystical lance by goddess Parvati to combat and vanquish the demon army of Tarakasura. Murugan came out as winner and was then celebrated in the victory of good over evil.

Although several Hindu shrines exist in Batu Caves, construction of a 42.7 meter high statue of Lord Murugan was completed in January 2006 making it the most dominant feature in the temple compound. In Batu Caves, devotees need to climb 272 steps to reach the temple inside the cave on the hilltop to complete the Thaipusam pilgrimage.

The first Batu Caves Thaipusam pilgrimage is believed to be in 1892 by early Tamils who migrated to colonial Malaya. Two of the first devotees made the difficult track up the ancient limestone hill and planted the `vel’ in the cave that houses a temple dedicated to Lord Murugan. The vel, made of metal and shaped like a lance, symbolizes Murugan who is also known as Velan.

On the eve of Thaipusam, a motorized five-ton silver-chariot bearing Lord Murugan’s image escorted by thousands of pilgrims leaves the Sri Mahamariaman (another name for Parvathi) temple in downtown Kuala Lumpur, on a 15-kilometre walk to Batu Caves.

At Batu Caves, devotees bring fruit and lower offerings usually in yellow or orange adorning dress in same color, the color most favored by Lord Murugan. During the procession, devotees bring milk, water, along with fruits and floral tributes on Kavadis – decorated with feathers of peacock.

Extraordinarily, many devotees torture their bodies with body piercing using hook, skewers and small lances called ‘vel’. These hooks are then tied to strings for pulling chariots or other heavy objects during the procession. Many others pierce their tongue and cheek to impede speech and thereby attain full concentration on the Lord. Most devotees enter into a trance during such piercing due to the incessant drumming and chanting of “vel vel shakti vel.”

Naked-Malaysian: All the above images belong to Mr. Hafis Ismail. All rights reserves.

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