Brits call it “holidays” and North Americans call it “vacation.” Whatever the hell you call it – you probably love it and so does your body for its well-earnt rest, as does your soaring excitement levels (but I’m not so sure about your bank account).
Some people like to kick back and relax on a sunny resort. Others like to have a jolly good piss-up. The more refined folk like to sightsee and read up on the history of the country that they are visiting.
My friends and I….we chose to watch people put themselves through immense physical pain, which generally included masses of people choosing to stab sharp blades through their face.
Classy bunch we are!
I took loads of horrendous and interesting photos of this. Then forgot to upload them to my computer. Then I broke my camera in Singapore. 
Thankfully, I have friends who went and I took some cheeky photos on my phone.
Yes – it’s straight through his face.
So why do the men and women of Kuala Lumpur (and those of Indian heritage) decide to every year, put themselves through so much torture and torment? You might have guessed it – religion!
Origins of Thaipusam
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated by the Tamil community every year, but oddly enough it is not recognised in India as an actual event. Malaysia is made up of a melting pot of races, many being of Indian heritage – and these guys decide to steal the show during Thaipusam in the most eye-catching way.
Thousands of devotees flock to the Batu Caves, to pay tribute to an old battle against the Asura forces, apparently aided by praying to the God ”Shiva,” who flew down and kicked some serious arse or something. One guy told me the pain they experienced was to keep out evil souls that still linger around and threaten the Tamil community.
But you don’t really care about all that history stuff, do you? You just want to see people with blades through their face and backs pouring of blood, don’t you? Sickos!
Day number one of two at Batu caves provided an infectious, enthusiastic and exciting environment. Girls queued up for impressive body art and performed lovely Tamil dance rituals. Guys did what we do best – stuffed our faces with loads of food. (Everything is vegetarian during this event). I did however, return to my hostel feeling underwhelmed – as I wanted to see more crazy shit!
My heart sank a little as we were rightly informed that the best/craziest time to go to the festival was at 4am on the second day. My body literally doesn’t let me “do” early nights, so being the night owl I am, I opted to stay up and watch that Ewan McGregor movie about the Tsunami on a Thai island. (I’ll save you the time and boredom – it was crap and the terrible child acting is all kinds of annoying).
The 4am show however, did not fail to meet up to my expectations – and I felt like I was part of a complete different universe! Before I knew it, guys and girls with only one blade through their cheeks were becoming softcore to me. My unquenchable curiosity was as thirsty as ever – but my shock factor was becoming alarmingly strong. And I craved craziness.
I got what I wanted. Thousands upon thousands of the Tamil community strutted up to the long walk up to Batu Caves with multiple sharp objects through their face. Some guys had hundreds of piercings all over their back, with attached chains.
The other end of the chains were attached to mini sculptures which mimicked the temple that was transported to Batu from Kuala Lumpur central.
Blood cascaded down their backs, blades through their face, heavy memorials rested on their head as they climbed the 272 steps of Batu caves. What made this event even more outrageously unbelievable was that the Tamil folk never looked in distress. They looked in a meditative state and at times they would squeal and roll round on the floor as to suggest that they were possessed by demons.
Batu Caves, Thaipusam festival.
At the top of the stairs, the blades are removed and the individual acts like something out of a scene from “The Exorcist.” I watched one guy salivate, make evil cat noises, have a fit and then scream as his blades were removed from his face. Seconds later he came over to me and said in his distinctive Indian/English voice; “Thank you for coming to out festival, Sir. It’s a great pleasure to have you here.”
Dumbfounded!
I’m not penis-measuring or anything here, but the videos that are currently on Youtube for this event are pale in comparison to what I witnessed.
On the flight back to Bangkok, as I made small talk with a guy next to me (who was a hardcore Christian bloke ironically enough). It seemed insane for anybody, including myself to comprehend what I had seen before my eyes during the last 24 hours.
I’m not a religious man and I personally believe that it does more harm than good. The subject of religion is actually a really touchy one for me right now, in my personal life. But I couldn’t help but have a high level of admiration for the Tamil community for their undoubted devotion and willpower. Just because I’m not religious – it doesn’t mean that I can’t be open-minded enough to see how other people perceive it.
Thaipusam certainly is a “go hard, or go home” kind of event and I’m happy that I experienced this wild festival. Oh, and if you think that THIS is a crazy, religious ceremony – I was planning on going to a religious ceremony in the Philippines that would have made Thaipusam look like a picnic with Mary Poppins 
But I had to pull out at the last moment
What is the craziest religious festival that you have went to? Have you ever been to Thaipusam?
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