Thaipusam
Thaipusam is a festival to celebrate two important events in Hindu mythology. The first is the anniversary when Lord Murugan received the Vel from His Mother, Goddess Parvathi. The second event is the day that God Shiva danced the ananda tandava and revealed His form of Nataraja to the devas, sages and priests gathered at the hallowed Shiva temple of Chidambaram in Tamilnadu. Thus Thaipusam is celebrated in both Sivan and Murugan temples, though Thaipusam is more popular as a Murugan festival. Thaipusam is a one day festival which usually falls on the last week of January or beginning of February.
3 comments:
Hi Swami. Excellent video coverage on the Thaipusam Parade. Short and simple.
Thanks for the explanation on many Hindu religious practices. It helps me to understand Thaipusam celebration better.
Would you have a posting about the trance and its meaning or significance? For instance, why is lime used? Why upon arriving on the top of Batu Caves, devotees who carry kavadi will gain their consciousness? I just came back from Batu Caves on Sat and very fascinated with the Thaipusam celebration.
Hi J.C. I will reply to your questions in my website soon. The short if it though is that while getting into trance is not a prerequisite for taking kavadi, it happens to some people whether superficially induced by loud music and devotional frenzy or truly divinely induced by higher state of spiritual consciousness. Especially the latter is a great blessing. Lime has both mystical significance as well as practical one. The most practical is that lime rind and juice has antiseptic qualities that are helpful in keeping wounds inflicted by the kavadi hooks from getting infected.
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