Thaipusam

This past week, I experienced another "first" in Singapore.  My first Thaipusam.  During Thaipusam, Hindu devotees carry kavadis (burdens) along a pilgrammage route.

Last year, I missed the parade, but this year, I was determined not to miss out.  So, I called up my friend Adrielle (who is also an expat) and dragged her along with me on this adventure.

The parade begins in Little India and winds through downtown Singapore, ending at a temple near Orchard Rd for a total of 4.5 km.  We decided to go to the source of the parade and took the MRT to Little India.  As soon as we got to street level, we saw yellow barriers marking off a lane in the street.  We picked a street corner to wait at and soon enough, some devotees came parading towards us.

First came this guy:

The paraders had to wait at the intersections for their turn to cross and this guy was dancing around...while carrying this huge kavadi.  It was so crazy, these guys were dancing around while all these spikes and hooks were digging into their skin...

       
Front and back views

Then came this guy:

His friends and family followed along, singing songs and playing instruments.

More guys came walking by:

       

The guy after them must have been rich, because he hired an entire band of drummers to help him along:

Little boy watching the parade

After awhile, we were starting to overheat in the scorching sunlight so Adrielle and I ducked into the nearest mall for some A/C (or aircon as they say here).  We got some bubble tea, and I snacked on some McD's while we rehydrated and chatted.  Refreshed, we decided to hop on the MRT and head towards the end of the parade route.

People lined up to see the paraders near Orchard Rd.

Soon, we heard some drums and yelling in the distance and a few minutes later, some people started walking  (or should I say dancing) down the lane.  It was almost like the last mile of a marathon where people re-energized with the end in sight.  Friends and family were dancing and singing along with the devotees.

This guy had a rowdy posse.

One of his friends started break dancing in the middle of the street

A bunch of other guys rolled on through

There were also a few ladies carrying kavadis:

Milk pot offering for the gods

This was the only woman we saw with piercings

Even little kids were walking the pilgrammage:

Budding drummer

Another milkpot carrier....not looking so hot

As we watched, we started noticing that we were seeing the same guys that we saw at the beginning of the parade!  Guess we rested longer than we thought....or these guys walked a lot faster than we expected.

This was the guy who had the band

This pic is blurry not because of my lack of skills,
but because this guy was spinning around like crazy!

You can't really tell in the picture, but this guy is walking
on a pair of sandals with nails poking into his feet!

Then came some guys in chariot kavadis.  They were attached to these "chariots" by hooks:

I'm not sure if the guy was supposed to be pulling his chariot,
but his friends were helping him out by pushing it along.

Closeup of his back....ouch!

A young kid carrying a smaller kavadi

       

with limes pinned to his back

The Indian lady next to us told us the parade continued until 12 am in the morning!  Neither of us had the desire or energy to stay out that late so we decided to head home.  Another crazy Singaporean adventure - definitely don't see this kind of stuff in the States!  You can check out the rest of my pictures here.