Lord Muruga

[Chris]

We should continue to pray and devote time worshipping. In my humble opinion, God is never elusive. He is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.

Namaste Kshama ji,
Well, said - of course you are absolutely correct. Any time we don't think we see God it is our own veiling rather than absence of God

[ScottMalaysia]

Lord Murugan is the patron deity of Tamil Nadu. Therefore, he is worshipped in places with a lot of South Indian people, like Malaysia. About 13km north of KL there is a sacred cave temple dedicated to Lord Murugan, called the Batu Caves. This temple has a 42.7m high statue of Lord Murugan at the entrance - the largest Murugan statue in the world.



The main festival for Murugan devotees is Thaipusam, which falls in January or February (the Tamil month of Thai). On that day, devotees who have made a vow to do so will carry a kavadi to the main shrine (in KL, inside the Batu Caves). The simplest kavadi is a pot of milk carried on the head, but more elaborate ones are portable altars to Lord Murugan, carried on the shoulders. Sometimes devotees will stick spears through their cheeks or put hooks in their backs. My wife told me that they are in trance when this happens and they don't feel any pain.

A guy from India whom I met on the train told me that Thaipusam is celebrated much more in Malaysia than it is in India.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: This coming Friday is Thai Pusam, the great night of penance for all Murugan bhaktars. Shall be an interesting night, indeed. One Mauritian devotee here is sponsoring temple abhishekham for ten straight nights, with the tenth being Thai Pusam. This family by themselves will have built of the vibration by then.

Aum Saravanabhava

[Spiritualseeker]

are there any rituals one can do at home to honor this festival?

[Sherab]

are there any rituals one can do at home to honor this festival?

Seconded.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: The interenet is FULL of info. Here is one link I liked.
http://penangpage.com/thaipusam/

It is mainly a temple festival, but certainly penance is involved. Taking a vow of silence for a few hours even would be a start. If you have a Murugan murthi, (Kind of hard to find actually) an abhishekham would be appropriate. Maybe a fast as well.

Aum Saravanabhava

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: So last night was Thai Pusam. Here at the temple I attend, no one carried kavadi this year. A devotee from Mauritius had sponsored 10 straight days of abhishekham, and last night the sahasranama (1008 names) archana was done. It was quite inner, IMHO, but who knows? I hope anyone else who celebrated this festival had an inner austere moment or two.

Aum Saravanabhava

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam EM

Vannakkam: So last night was Thai Pusam. Here at the temple I attend, no one carried kavadi this year. A devotee from Mauritius had sponsored 10 straight days of abhishekham, and last night the sahasranama (1008 names) archana was done. It was quite inner, IMHO, but who knows? I hope anyone else who celebrated this festival had an inner austere moment or two.

Aum Saravanabhava

I had witnessed a wonderful ceremony for my first visit to a Murgan temple in East London today, people carrying milk in a pot on their head after a puja process, culminating in abhishek. it was a wonderful experience, what a pity i could not understand a word of Tamil but the chanting was uplifting.
Perhaps you can tell me more about Kavadi
Jai Shree rishna Jai Lord Murga

[Eastern Mind]

Vanakkam Ganeshprasad:

You were at the Murugan Highgate Temple, no?

There is lots of info on kavadi on line. It is a method of prayer by South Indian, mostly Tamil, for two main reasons, but often a vow for a prayer when He (Murugan) answers. It can get quite severe as you can see if you look around the net.

The indentured labour Tamils spread by the British are particularly involved in Fiji, Mauritius, Reunion Island, (There it is called Cavadee festival even, not Thai Pusam. Malaysia, and South Africa. You will also find it elsewhere but not quite so intensely. Because of the high number of participants, the devotees certainly believe kavadi works.

I too do not understand Tamil, but a really good thevaram singer on his or her own can really blow my mind with the sound alone. We are fortunate to have 2 people here who are exceptional at this. I just close my eyes and float away in some sort of sound induced ecstasy.

Another decent kavadi link (Singapore) http://www.cpamedia.com/culture/thaipusam/

Aum Saravanabhava

[Sherab]

Last night, the full moon was amazong over here. Clouds in the sky, from which peered a full moon, with rainbow like light coming from it...

i should of realized it was something special...