Thaipusam

This past Tuesday was the Hindu festival of Thaipusam.  I tried to look up what the day is meant to celebrate but there seem to be multiple things so will just leave it at being a very spiritual day.

In Singapore, they actually shut down some of the roads so that the devotees can make the 2.5 mile walk from Little India to the temple just down the road from my apartment.  Now, 2.5 miles doesn't seem like such a long way...but imagine if you had to walk that far wearing this...

The men are wearing kavadis or burdens.

These are worn as an act of devotion and apparently the more pain that is suffered the more god-earned merit is obtained.  If you can't see in the pictures above, the kavadis are not only balanced on the shoulders of these men but are actually affixed to their bodies...

Sorry that the picture above is blurry but I had to snap this fast because there were so many people walking with him.

In addition to the men, the women also participate as devotees...

So, in addition to walking, barefoot, with the kavadis for 2.5 miles in the Singapore heat...these guys also dance with them on...can you imagine...