I first became familiar with
Thaipusan when at 16, in Mauritius, my parents and I watched in awe as people pierced themselves. I wondered if I would feel any differently 20+ years later in Singapore. It is an unbelievable experience and I felt eerily similar both times. I think the pictures speak for themselves. OUCH!!
These are the offerings that they carry on their heads.
Preparing for the pilgrimage to the Temple. (a few miles)
They leave a mess when they are done. People come in shifts. When a shift is over, they clean the whole area before the new shift arrives.
Julie, Mindy, Jocelyn
(thanks to Joce's husband Spencer who took 3 crazy ladies out at 1am to watch the festival)
Julie and Joce in front of an apparatus that one man will later carry.