Murugan, Lord Shivan and Parvati's Son
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon in the Tamil Month of Thai(January/ February) from 20 th January and 21st January 2011 this year.The word Thaipusam comes from the month name Thai and Pusam, which refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel(spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.
Devotees throughout Singapore and people around the world come to seek prayers from Lord Murugan to get his favour by taking part in the ceremonies like Kavadi Attam, Pal kudam and Mottai for Lord Murugan.They will have to get their tickets, book their Kavadis and decorate their kavadis for the big day.Family members too come to temple to support the "Kavadi Pillais" by singing religious songs pertaining to Lord Murugan and they chant "Muruganuku Vel Vel till the pocession gets over.
Kavadi Attam
Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Murugan, the Tamil God of War.It is often performed during the festival of Thaipusam and emphasizes debt bondage. The Kavadi itself is a physical burden through which the devotees pray to Murugan to take away all their troubles.
Generally, Hindus take a vow to offer a kavadi to idol(Murugan) to weed away bad evil and gain favour of Tendavuthabani(Murugan). For instance, if the devotee's son is laid up with a fatal disease, he would pray to Shanmuga to grant the boy a lease of life in return for which the devotee would take a vow to dedicate a kavadi to Murugan.
"Mottai for Murugan"
On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion.They will carry various types of kavadi (burdens). Some devotees who want to do simple prayers will carry a pot of milk.Some other devotees will do mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers which is said to be done fulfill the wishes that they pray to Lord Murugan for.
PalKudam
In Singapore, Hindu devotees start their foot procession at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in the early morning, carrying milk pots as offerings or attaching "kavadis" to their bodies. The procession travels for 4 kilometres before finishing at the Tank Road Temple.
To facilitate the event, the following roads will be closed during the stipulated timings:
S/N | Roads | Timing |
a | Tank Road | From 7.00 pm on 19 January 2011 to 3.00 am on 21 January 2011 |
b | Extreme right lane of Serangoon Road in the direction of Upper Serangoon Road | From 8.00 pm on 19 January 2011 to 3.00 am on 21 January 2011 |
c | Petain Road (between Sturdee Road and Serangoon Road ) | |
d | Kitchener Link (between Serangoon Road and the carpark exit of City Square Mall) | |
e | Hastings Road (between Serangoon Road and Clive Street ) | |
f | Campbell Lane (between Serangoon Road and Clive Street ) | |
g | Dunlop Street (between Clive Street and Serangoon Road ) | |
h | Upper Dickson Road (between Serangoon Road and Clive Street ) | |
i | Baboo Lane (between Serangoon Road and Block 2 of Baboo Lane ) | |
j | The carriageway of Handy Road in the direction of Plaza Singapura (between Orchard Road and Penang Road ) | From 9.00 pm on 19 January 2011 to 3.00 am on 21 January 2011 |
k | Extreme right lane of Selegie Road in the direction of Serangoon Road | |
l | Extreme right lane of Prinsep Street in the direction of Selegie Road | |
m | Extreme right lane of Penang Road in the direction of Somerset Road | |
n | Slip Road of Prinsep Street from Selegie Road | |
o | The carriageway of Clemenceau Avenue in the direction of Penang Road (between River Valley Road and Penang Road ) |
In addition, the following roads will be converted to have 2-way traffic access to facilitate the movement of vehicles to and from Kampong Kapor Road and Jalan Rumbia respectively .
S/N | Roads | Timing |
p | Veerasamy Road (between Kampong Kapor Road and Serangoon Road ) | From 8.00 pm on 19 January 2011 to 3.00 am on 21 January 2011 |
q | Oxley Rise (between Clemenceau Avenue and Jalan Rumbia) | From 9.00 pm on 19 January 2011 to 3.00 am on 21 January 2011 |
marvellous piece of work! during this occasion, i think that people take kavadi and palkudam to ask sorry to the god for whatever sin that they have commited before. By the way, thank you so much. I really gained alot of infomation through this article!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Your posts are getting interesting! :D
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