more from Thaipusam

During the two days of the pilgrimage that the devotees were making to the Waterfall Temple there were an estimated 1.2 million participants according to the newspaper.  That includes a number of tourists, though from my observation of the crowd not a lot were western, though there were a few.   As Charles & Linda's house was so close we came and went frequently.  I went seven times from relatively early to somewhat late at night (for me).  The crowd changed a lot of the time both in make up and in density. 

During the day there were more people carrying stuff and the crowds were less dense.  (Makes sense).

Though there were choke points for sure, like when the chariot came though.  Or the occasional car,  or truck or just crowd backed up around a particular interesting performance of some sort.

one of the several temples near the top of the hill.

one of the many displays along the way in the sponsored booths. These were often stopped in front of by the guys carrying kavadis (those things on their heads) where they would dance to the very very loud music being played by the speaker as large as a person - or two.

and at night the crowds got very large.

We saw this guy getting prepared to head out to the street in a yard in the entry to Charles and Linda's neighborhood. We watched final preparation. That is Marie on the right and in the back right is Patt. There were several devotees getting prepped here and beginning their trek.

more kavadis- one in full dance.  One of these guys in a different arrangement about ran over Linda as he got a bit out of control - or Linda got a little close — I too about got hit and got out of the way in a hurry.

Shoes off before entering one of the temples near the entry to the Waterfall temple.

Note the two dancing guys in front of the big kavadi.  Guys like this were everywhere, often in large groups either attached to the kavadi guy or not and often creating people traffic jams.  

Fruit man was interesting and kept up a good pace for a while. Those white things are sea shells.

a tourist checking on the resting kavadi guy. It was amazing how accommodating they were to tourists and others interested in what they were doing.

In many of the large traffic jams of people in order to move through the crowd people would put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front and just follow in a snake like fashion and these snakes would move through the crowd, often passing one going the opposite direction or running parallel to one for a while. Really efficient and interesting. I would say something like "lets go" or "I am with you" as I placed my hand on someones shoulder, though, people would do so to me no one ever spoke. Most times I got no response as I suspect they could not hear me though once or twice I got a turn around and a approving smile at seeing a "westerner".  This guy at the end of the crowd asked me to be in a "selfie" with him, so I in turn asked him and his mother to be in one with me.

Three boys out looking for someone to help — probably- but glad to be photographed by me.

Either begging or collecting for a charity— not sure which.

A couple of police moving though the crowd.  As I mentioned you had to like people.  and yes I went off by myself occasionally.  I kinda liked being here — found it fun and interesting. Always something new to see, hear, smell (sometimes not so good), food and drinks to sample, or just experience.

Thaipusam

If you like crowds, and really really loud Indian music, have we got the place for you. Right in front of Charles and Linda's neighborhood the first couple of days in February. Toss in high 90s temps and free street food (vegetarian) and some great styles of entertainment and mix in State Fair, various religious pilgrimages, and be sure to bring your ear plugs (I did).

These guys- perhaps thirty, were dancing and rhythm hitting sticks together and against each other and totally creating a traffic jam as there is a general flow of people attempting to get to Waterfall Temple near the top of a hill in a park next to C & L's house. One million people were expected to attend Thaipusam this year. -includes lots of tourists like us.

and more than a few guys like these guys pulling a wagon with a model of some god on it with hooks in their backs, yes hooks. pulled tight.

There were also groups of guys with no apparent purpose. This was one of the nicer looking groups.  They are dancing in front of one of the speakers. The speakers were not hard to find. Note the size.  They would cause your sternum to vibrate, your head to throb, your knees to wobble, and stomach to tighten. Loud is not an apt descriptor. That rolling boombox at the stoplight next to you is playing lull-a-byes that are barely recognizable as sounds in comparison. This puts those guys back home to shame.

There are also guys with large head dress contraptions. They dance and whirl and make progress toward the Waterfall temple too. Occasionally one of these guys is overcome with heat/exhaustion and takes a serious rest. They are attended by some of the guys with no apparent purpose.

I should mention colorful saris are the order of the day. The dad did get more of a white dot than most get. I got white dots on two occasions. Hard to miss as priest helpers pass them out pretty freely.  Sometimes just for standing still as I found out.

Jewelry is also part of the show.

 And that is a fan on the stroller of this tourist family - the little girl got a white dot too.

Those are milk jugs strapped to the pilgrim, Milk is one of the offerings to the god at Waterfall Temple. Enough milk is dumped to turn a creek white.

Here a man with a kavada - I think that is the spelling of the thing on his head - is dancing, note his feet and his pants twirl.

A chariot pulled by bulls is carrying a Lord Murugha - the diety- worshiped at Thaipusam.  (I have more photos of that elsewhere).

and in preparation for the chariot, coconuts are broken to spill coconut milk on the road to clean the road — get it — the coconut milk is clean— never mind that it is scraped up by a front end loader and street sweepers before the chariot gets there. Note Mark and Charles breaking coconuts. It is done with great enthusiasm.  Look closely, Charles's has just burst and Mark is at height of full swing. They were late to the pile and had to glean for unbroken ones.

A pile being prepared for use.

The street in front of displays of various iterations of the god are all along the street sponsored by various organizations and groups. Elaborate paintings decorate the street in front of the little "temple".  People often stop and make offerings or pray in front of these. Many times at these booths free food and drink are offered. Some of the food is quite good, some is a bit spicy. All is vegetarian.

I think this is one of the appearances of Lord Murugha.  He has several different manifestations according to what I understand of this particular Hindi belief.

and this is one of the food distribution lines, we were in this one. The curry was spicy, the tofu was great, the pumpkin would set you free - my sinus is forever clear.

and I know getting these milk jugs pinned onto your body hurts, this guy showed real pain as he was getting loaded up. Others we saw were stoic.

Photographers everywhere and we were invited to take photos.  In fact we were encouraged to take photos everywhere - frequently the pilgrims and their entourage manager made arrangements for photographers - and smiled after the shot, never during the shot.

The colors were amazing.

more to  come

Old George Town - World Heritage Site and one interesting place

We went into George Town yesterday, an old town that is now a world heritage site. At one time it was an English Colonial City- relatively short lived and now it is incredibly multicultural. Chinese, Indian, Malay and of course less of English influence. There are also all sorts of other Southeast Asian influences like this reclining Thai Buddhist temple we went into. This thing is huge. See below.

See what I mean.  (most Buddhas are not laying down - FYI)

Also a Burmese Buddhist temple, good thing they had signs to let you know as I am not that discerning in my Buddha recognition.

George Town has recently become famous for a street artist that painted scenes on buildings that somewhat invite participation. Here Charles has joined in the fun.

Others are just real interesting large pictures.

The city is one busy market place with lots going on.

I think this is a close up of the Burmese Buddha.

One of the giant street art paintings..

Here is a Chinese polytheistic worship or something, they had a host of gods, and a host of offerings and incense burning.

A man told me at a temple place of worship that this is the god of finance and he said a lot of Chinese worship him. I thought to myself so do a lot of Americans. Well perhaps not this one, but similar.  The temple is also a Clan house - a family sponsored hall that serves as an extended family center.  By extended, I mean back to when the family emigrated from China in 1880's or there abouts.

Some of the entrances are quite extensive and fancy as our group is posed in front of this one.

and I like the name of this hotel. Oh and check out the sky, the date was February 1, so the ground hog, should he have been here, would have seen his shadow and we would be expecting six more weeks of winter.  I reckon that would not be all bad as it is not terribly cold right now.  Note the clothing we are wearing above.

The red "lanterns" hanging over the street are the first of the decorations for Chinese New Year which is a few weeks away.  In the meantime a big Indian holiday is about to kick off.  More about that in the next post.

A monk blessing a devotee at one of the polythestic temples of which there are many.

and a Muslim tourist posing for a photo with more of the street art. The bicycle and basket are partially real and partially painted.

as is the swing set where the American tourist is posing for a photo.  Having fun too.