Thaipusam 2023

5 02 2023

Following two subdued editions in 2021 and 2022 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the celebration of this year’s Thaipusam on 5 Feb 2023, saw a return to long-held traditions — with a procession of kavadis or burdens (including spike or vel kavadis). The procession starts at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple along Serangoon Road and ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The celebration of the Hindu festival is one of multi-cultural and multi-religious Singapore’s most spectacular. A good place to catch it or even photograph it is at the procession’s start point, the Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple in which elaborate preparations are made by kavadi bearers before they embark on the over 3 kilometre journey of faith to Tank Road.

Do visit my numerous posts related to Thaipusam to find out more on the festival, which is celebrated annually on the day of the full moon during the Tamil month of Thai:

Photographs of this year’s festival can be found in the gallery below:





The Village of Lime on the Eve of Deepavali

25 10 2022

Singapore, with its multi-cultural influences, is a city of festivals. Deepavali (or Diwali), the Hindu festival of lights that commemorates the triumph of good over evil was celebrated on Monday, just as decorations in anticipation of Christmas began making an appearance along Orchard Road.

Deepavali is one of two festivals, the other being Pongal, that is celebrated in a big way in Little India. Known as Serangoon, and also the village of lime, Soonambu Kambam or Kampong Kapor, Little India is one of Singapore’s three precincts that has retained an ethnic flavour. Recently named as one of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods for 2022, the precinct comes alive in the lead up to the two festivals. Not only is there a street light-up that in my opinion tops the annual Christmas light-up at Orchard Road, the neighbourhood also sees a often more than lively festive bazaar.

The festivities bring much life and colour to Little India, and certainly puts one in the mood to celebrate — especially this year with most Covid-19 pandemic restrictions lifted. With the eve of Deepavali falling very conveniently on a Sunday — a day when throngs of Singapore’s South Asian guest workers make their way to Little India, the streets seemed even busier with crowds descending on the precinct to soak in the atmosphere and to make last minute purchases of festive snacks and sweets, clothes, jewellery and festive decorations.





Thaipusam 2020

9 02 2020

Photographs of Thaipusam, taken in and around the Sri Srinvasa Perumal Temple. The colourful annual festival, celebrated by the South Indian Hindu community, sees a procession of kavadis carried along a 4 kilometre route from the Sri Srinvasa Temple on Serangoon Road to the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple (Chettiars Temple) on Tank Road.



Posts related to past celebrations of Thaipusam in Singapore:





Thaipusam 2018 at The Sri Srinivasa Perumal in photographs

1 02 2018

Thaipusam at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal in photographs:


Posts related to past celebrations of Thaipusam in Singapore:


 





The Silver Chariot through the streets of Chinatown

30 01 2018

The eve of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam sees the Chetty Pusam Silver Chariot procession take place.  The procession is in two parts. The first leg, which takes place in the early morning, sees Lord Murugan (also Sri Thendayuthapani) brought from the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road to the Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple at Keong Saik Road to spend the day with his brother Ganesh (Sri Vinayagar). A stop is made along this leg at the Sri Mariamman Temple, which is dedicated to Lord Murugan’s and Lord Vinayagar’s mother, Sri Mariamman or Parvati.

The Chariot bearing Lord Murugan makes a stop at the Sri Mariamman Temple along South Bridge Road,

A second part leaves the Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple in the afternoon and makes its way back to the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple. Due to the early start of the main Thaipusam kavadi procession (brought about by a lunar eclipse occurring just after sundown on Thaipusam), the chariot is scheduled to leave at about 2.30 pm this afternoon. A procession of Chettiar kavadis will also leave the temple for Tank Road at about 1.30 pm.


Photographs taken of the Silver Chariot procession this morning:


Posts related to past celebrations of Thaipusam in Singapore:


 





Photographs of Thaipusam 2017

9 02 2017

Today’s Thaipusam, an annual Hindu festival celebrated in Singapore that being a most colourful of spectacles, is perhaps also a most photographed. The festival sees a procession of kavadis – burdens carried by devotees of Lord Murugan – from the Sri Srinivas Perumal Temple at Serangoon Road to the Sri Thendayuthapani (Chettiars) Temple in Tank Road.

More information on the festival can be found at: http://sttemple.com/pages/16~thaipusam and at the following links:


Photographs taken at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple this morning:

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The Thaipusam Chariot Procession

8 02 2017

One of Singapore’s more colourful religious festivals, Thaipusam, will be celebrated tomorrow, primarily by the Hindus of the Southern Indian community. As always, the festival is preceded by a procession of a silver chariot carrying Lord Murugan, whom the festival honours.

There are two parts to the procession here in Singapore. The first part, which takes place in the morning, sees Lord Murugan transported from the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road to the Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple at Keong Saik Road. Lord Murugan (also known as Sri Thendayuthapani) then spends the day with his brother Sri Vinayagar (or Ganesh) before making the return journey in the evening. On the first leg of the procession, a stop is made at the Sri Mariamman Temple, which is dedicated to Lord Murugan’s and Lord Vinayagar’s mother, Sri Mariamman or Parvati.


Posts related to past celebrations of Thaipusam in Singapore:

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The Chariot Route (2017).


Photographs from the first leg of the procession this morning:

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The Silver Chariot passes the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple along South Bridge Road.

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At the junction of Kreta Ayer Road and Keong Saik Road.

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Arriving at the Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple.

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Preparing to carry the image of Lord Murugan into the temple.

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Lowering Lord Murugan.

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Moving into the Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple.


 





The full moon of Thai

25 01 2016

Yesterday, the day of the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai, saw the most lively and colourful of festivals, Thaipusam, being celebrated by the Hindu community. A very visible part of the festival is a procession of devotees carrying kavadis. In Singapore, the kavadis, some weighing as much as 40 kilogrammes, are carried along a route from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road to the Chettairs’ or Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road.

The annual procession remains as one of the most colourful religious and cultural celebrations in Singapore even without the chanting, singing, music and dancing, which would have flavoured it in its pre-1973 days. This year, a total ban on music was lifted, and this saw musical instruments allowed at designated points along the procession route. The festival is one of two occasions during which kavadis are carried, the other being the Panguni Uthiram festival celebrated during the full moon of the month of Panguni. 


Photographs from Thaipusam 2016

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More information on the festival from the Hindu Endowments Board’s website:

Thaipusam which falls in the Tamil month of Thai (usually January/ February) is an annual foot procession by Hindu devotees seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks. Thaipusam is celebrated in honour of Lord Subrahmanya (also known as Lord Murugan) who represents virtue, youth and power to Hindus and is the destroyer of evil.

On the day before Thaipusam, a statue of Lord Subrahmanya decorated with jewels and finery and together with his two consorts, Valli and Devayani, is placed on a chariot and brought in procession. In Singapore, the chariot procession begins from the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple to Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple at Keong Siak Road. The procession symbolizes the blessings sought by Lord Subrahmanya from his elder brother Lord Vinayagar.

Thaipusam ceremony starts in the early hours of the morning when the first batch of devotees of Lord Subrahmanya carrying milk pots and wooden kavadis leave Sri Srinvasa Perumal Temple for Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The milk in the pots they carry are offered to the deity of Lord Subrahmanya at Sri Thendayuthapani Temple. Some devotees pierce their tongues with skewers and carry a garlanded wooden arch across their shoulders. Others devotees may carry a kavadi (semi circular metal structure decorated with peacock feathers, flowers and plam leaves). The spiked kavadis which require elaborate preparations leave the temple in the later part of the morning and continue till 6pm.

Carrying kavadi is a popular form of devotion for Hindus. It is usually carried in fulfillment of a vow that a devotee would have taken. Placing a kavadi at the end of the foot procession at the altar of Lord Subrahmanya and making an offering of milk symbolizes the cleansing of the mind and soul and seeking of blessings.

In preparation for carrying a kavadi, a devotee has to prepare himself spiritually. For a period of about a month, the devotee must live a life of abstinence whilst maintaining a strict vegetarian diet. It is believed that only when the mind is free of material wants and the body free from physical pleasures that a devotee can undertake the sacred task without feeling any pain.


More information on the kavadi, its origins and some of the various forms it takes from the Thaipusam.sg site:

There are many types of offerings, which the devotee makes to his beloved deity Sri Murugan. A special offering is the carrying of kavadi and there is a Puranic legend behind this practice.

There was once a great saint called Agasthya who rested at Mount Pothikai. Agasthya dispatched one of his students, Idumban, to Mount Kailai Range instructing him to bring back two hills called Sivagiri and Shakthigiri belonging to Lord Murugan.

As instructed, Idumban having arrived at Mount Kailai, picked up both the hills, tied them and swung them across his shoulders.

Lord Murugan had other plans. He wanted the two hills to be placed at Thiruvavinankudi (Palani) and at the same time test the devotion and tenacity of purpose of Idumban.

Idumban who was on his way back with the hills suddenly found himself lost. Lord Murugan appeared as a king, riding a horse led Idumban to Thiruvavinankudi (Palani) and requested Idumban to rest there so that he could continue his journey later.

Having rested, Idumban tried to carry the two hills but strangely found that he could not do so. A perplexed Idumban looked up and saw a child in loincloth standing atop one of the hills. Idumban requested the child to get down, however, the child refused claiming that the hills belonged to him. An angered Idumban attempted to attack the child but found himself falling like an uprooted tree. A scuffle ensued and Idumban was defeated. Only then did Idumban realize that the child was none other than Muruga or Subrahmanya Himself – the ruling deity of the region. Idumban craved the pardon of the divine child and also sought the boon that anyone who comes to the hills to worship Sri Muruga with an object similar to the two hillocks suspended by a load bearing pole, may be granted his heart’s desire. Idumban’s wish was granted. Murugan also said that he would bless those who bring sandal, milk, flowers, etc. in a kavadi to His shrine. Hence, the practice of carrying a kavadi.

At the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, one can see a small sanctum dedicated to Idumban. Devotees who usually fast for Thaipusam break their fast one day later after offering their prayers to Idumban.

The simplest kavadi consists of a short wooden pole surmounted by a wooden arch. Pictures or statues of Lord Murugan or other deities are fixed onto the arch. The kavadi is decorated with peacock feathers and a small pot of milk is attached to each end of the pole.

There are more elaborate kavadis that devotees carry. The alagu and ratha kavadi are common forms of kavadi carried by devotees during Thaipusam. Kavadis are affixed on a bearer’s body by long sharpened rods or by chains and small hooks. A kavadi bearer not only carries a gift for God but the whole kavadi is seen as a shrine for God Himself.

Devotees who intend to carry kavadis are customarily required to observe strict physical and mental discipline. Purification of the body is a necessity. This includes taking just simple vegetarian meals and observing celibacy. According to orthodox doctrine, rigid fasting and abstinence have to be observed over a 48-day period prior to the offering of the kavadi on Thaipusam Day.

Piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common. This prevents the devotees from speaking and gives them great powers of endurance.


Photographs from previous Thaipusam celebrations:






The sun rises on a Sembawang tradition

5 04 2012

The Panguni Uthiram festival is a Hindu festival that is celebrated annually during the full moon of the Tamil month of Panguni. In Singapore, this is celebrated at the Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple, now located at Yishun Industrial Park A. The celebration of the festival in the area traces its history back to 1967 when the temple was located off Canberra Road which was then part of the Royal Navy Naval Base in Sembawang. More information can be found on a previous post, A lesser known Hindu festival with a Kavadi procession: Panguni Uthiram, and also on the Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple’s website.


Photographs taken at Sunrise today of this year’s Panguni Uthiram