Showing posts with label murugan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label murugan. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2012

,

Thaipusam 2012 - Part Two (Penang Island)

1. Photography , 4. My Trips 0 Comments



First time in Penang Thaipusam.

 We were supposed to leave house around 10am to Penang Island but ended up leaving at 11.45am!! We reached the island quite fast as there was no jam at all on the bridge.As we were nearing the temple the jam started to build up and we managed to park our car at the Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society parking bay at a RM10 parking fees. Since this was our first time here for Thaipusam, we thought the temple is quite near from here and decided to walk without slippers on as my wife is carrying "paal kudam" today. And what a day it was! It was freaking hot and I could feel the heat under my feet.The journey from the parking to the temple was around 2km. Thank God, there were trees almost everywhere along the road which provided enough shades and of course some good hearted people showering our feets with water and some of the road were already wet that time. But still, it was freaking hot!!

My wife started the journey from the Muniswarar temple at one of the junctions and headed towards the Sri Balathandayuthabaani Temple on top of the hill. There weren't many kavadis around but many people were carrying the "paal kudam". FInally, we managed to find our way to the top and offered the milk to Lord Muruga in Penang as well. Good thing was the temple committee has a separate stall to provide the "Milk Abishegam" in a plastic. After resting for a while, we headed down to get some drink and annathaanam to fill up our empty stomach.

The main attraction of Penang Thaipusam, in my humble opinion was the "Thanneer Panthal" where they serve free water/juice or mooru for the visitors. All of the "Thanneer Panthal" were sponsored by big companies in Penang such as Dell, Flextronixs, Intel, DHL among others. The design of the panthal were really creative. You have to see it to believe it.

As it was almost 4pm, the sun was still not kind enough to ease up its heat. My feet felt as though its already half fried. My body started to ache as well, as I was was carrying 13kg Kavinash Kavadi to and fro from the temple. Imagine that! In case you are wondering what Kavadi is that, its actually my son. I was carrying him the whole journey. Even in Sungai Petani. And I can still feel the pain on my shoulders and leg as I write this blog now.
We left Penang Island around 5pm and headed back to Kajang. The highway was quite jammed as there were many lorries and busses on the road. Took us 5 hours to reach home.

Food for thought, what do you guys think about the guys dancing in front of the kavadis? Do you think we really need that kind of attitude? Is this the kind of impression that we want to give to people of Malaysia\foreigners about Malaysian Indians? And I always thought that the festival of Thaipusam was for Lord Murugan. But, you can see kavadis of many deities and some even in a gruesome manner especially Kali amma. Isn't Thaipusam supposed to be dedicated to Lord Muruga only? How would you feel if we celebrate Deepavali on a Chirstmas day? Well, that's is my opinion. Do let me know what you think!

Enjoy the pictures!


Thaipusam 2012 – Part One (Sungai Petani)
By at No comments:
Tags , , , , , , , , , , ,
,

Thaipusam 2012 - Part One (Sungai Petani)

1. Photography , 4. My Trips 0 Comments



I'm Back!

After a gap of 3 years we went back to my hometown for Thaipusam. The last time we went there was a day after my wedding. :) For the next three year we went to Batu Caves to celebrate the festival of Thaipusam. At last its time to the magic of Thaipusam back in Sungai Petani, Kedah! And my son was so exited to meet his grandmother's house.

Has Sungai Petani lost its magic touch?
Well, I was bragging to my wife on how crowded it would be and there would be many kavadis in SP.After having a good rest at home, we headed to the Sithi Vinayagar temple on the eve of Thaipusam. This is the first time I'm going there after the "Kumbabishegam" and the temple looks awesome with its beige and bronze colour. Check out the photos later. We went straight inside the temple were it was almost empty since the the crowd was outside looking at the kavadis. The temple has changed a lot since the last time I came here. This is an all in one temple where you can find almost every single deities under one roof. A must visit temple if you visit Sungai Petani!

Back to Thaipusam story.After praying, we headed out and walked towards to Sri Subramaniam temple were the main event is held every single year.As we walked there, I noticed that the crowd is not as much as it used to be.Even the kavadis were so less compared to a few years back. It used to be so crowded until you have to squeeze through the all those people but we were walking freely on the road. I thought it was just the eve and the situation would change the next day. The 100 years old temple after the "kumbabishegam" looks brand new as well. There weren't many crowd inside the temple as well and managed to pray freely.After praying, went outside and since there was not many kavadis to watch, we headed back home as we have to wake up early.

 My mother is taking "paal kudam" early in the morning. Slept at midnight and woke up at 3am to bring my mom to the temple. I joined my mom in taking "paal kudam" as well for the first time in my life! We walked slowly from the Sithi Vinayagar temple together with my uncle and his family and reached the Subramaniam temple within 15 minutes as there was less people. Once we reached the temple, we took the free receipt (in conjucntion with the 100th years celebration, there is no charges for the paal kudam or kavadi) and joined the crowd waiting in line to enter the temple. It was very organised and we made 3 circles around the temple and entered inside to offer the milk to Lord Muruga. We went back home after that as there was nothing much to do. We were at home around 5.15am and I went to sleep around 6am.

The next day before heading to Penang Island, I went to the Sri Subramaniamiam temple again hoping that there would be more kavadis to watch as I didn't manage to capture enough magic moments there. And again, I was disappointed that there was only a few kavadis and hence the title of this story; Has Sungai Petani lost its magic touch?

If anyone of you readers are from Sungai Petani and happened to be there during Thaipusam, do you mind sharing your story? Perhaps, I missed the moment when the crowd and kavadis throng the temple?


Thaipusam 2012 – Part One (Sungai Petani)
By at
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

,

the Divine Journey - Thaipusam 2011 in Batu Caves

1. Photography , 4. My Trips 0 Comments


It was 5.30am and finally we reached Batu Caves temple and managed to get a parking at the exact same location as last year, at the roadside of course. Where else can you get a parking on the most special day for Lord Murugan each year? We left from home in Kajang around 5am and reached Selayang  in 30 minutes. The decision to leave early this year was because of the massive crowd on the cave when we went there at 8.30am last year.

And first thing first, for two consecutive years we performed the "head balding" (or whatever you call it) for my son in Batu Caves.So, we decided to do the last "session" at the same place. And what an experience it was! During the first year, my son was very quiet and did not even response when the barber was shaving off the hair. Second year, he cried for a while and gave a stern look at the barber when shaving. And during the final year, he was so pissed off that he started crying from the beginning till the end. It was very hard to hold him till the end. END REsult : Shaving could not be completed successfully.. There were patches here and there. Hehehe.

Once done, moved on to the Vinayagar temple to do the prayers and then to the other deities. Luckily, there were not many crowd at that time. RM5 for each archanai. WOW!
Later, the journey up the to meet Lord Murugan begins. 272 steps...And again, since it was only around 6am, the crowd was still manageble until you reach the top. It has been years since Thaipusam is celebrated here but I wonder why there is no proper management of the crowd. Those going to do 'archanai' will clash twice with those who are bringing the paal kudam. This will cause a massive jam and worse than the one we get to see at the highways everyday.And bear in mind, this was only around 6.30am!!! Just imagine what will happen later in the day. So, The journey up began at 6am and we only managed to get down at 8.15am.
Currently I am uploading the video of the crowd so that you can see it for yourself. Should be ready in the next 30 minutes.
Video uploaded :






We didn't stay very long there as my son was getting sleepy already. While walking towards the car, we saw a few people holding a board written "Please Do Not Litter" and few of them were actually collecting the rubbish and putting it in a plastic bag. Man, we are so famous for littering during the festival that another organisation have to come and tell us to not litter! There were trash can in quite a few places but it was full. Who does the cleaning anyway? Doesn't the management have some sort of plan for this?And for the people, think before you throw..hehe
By 9am we left the temple and reached home at 10.30am. It took us 1 1/2 hours to reach back home when it took us only 30 minutes to reach the temple in the morning! Reason : Traffic jam, of course!

Checkout the photos below :

the Divine Journey – Thaipusam 2011 in Batu Caves If you visit the the temple yearly during Thaipusam, what do you think is the most important thing that must be improved by the temple management or by the public themselves? Please comment below.
By at
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Instagram Widget