Thaipusam!!! Part 1: Opening Cemermonies

So this is it, the Big Kahuna of our Kuala Lumpur experience. This is why Ami and I dished out a load more ringgits to stay in the city for as long as we did.

THAIPUSAM!!!!!!

As we were visiting the Hindu temple you all saw in the last entry, a man gave us details of the opening ceremony taking place that night. Ami and I were giddy with excitement and anticipation. We returned to the temple later that night and saw in the faint distance a glimmering light......

We approached closer to see what this fascinating, UFO-like structure was...

But still the beautiful light was too blinding. We couldn't help but give into to the helpless desire to draw ourselves nearer to this cosmic object.

At last its purpose became clear. This was the main altar that was to be leading the great Thaipusam procession.

How beautiful! My breath was taken away. The lights and colours all looked so sweet that I wanted to reach out and touch it. Maybe even chew a piece of it like it were a stick of some magical, cosmic gum.

Soon after Ami and I soaked in the sight of this altar, the crowd surrounding us had doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so forth. We were swimming in a see of Indian devotees, which was spotted with the occasional curious foreigner like ourselves. There were people EVERYWHERE!

Here....

There.....

Not there...whoops, we must have taken a wrong turn.

But more there. Everywhere!

The women carrying the metal jugs on their heads are the Hindu devotees who walk bare foot for 15 km up to the Batu Caves located just north of the city center. The jugs contain milk and that is what they call their 'burden'. More info can be found on Wikipedia for those interested.

The whole time, the huge crowd made of thousands of people were following the beautiful bright altar that was always up ahead in the distance.

We just had to follow the light. Beautiful sights and sounds could be seen and heard all around.

Ami and I followed the procession throughout the downtown core for over four hours. People on the street were constantly handing out free water and even little bags of free vegetarian rice, nuts and curry to keep the proceeding people energized. We walked and walked until the crowd began to thin out by around 3am all that remained were rowdy young guys using their motorbikes as noisemakers. They constantly revved their engines so the entire street was shrouded in a cloud of exhaust fumes. Apparently, they come out to have illegal races while many police officers are off work enjoying the national holiday. At first it was funny, but then it became irritating so we went home.

Be sure to stay tuned for our wild Thaipusam Adventure: Part 2.

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Here is a video of our experiences throughout the first day of Thaipusam, Kuala Lumpur, 2011. Enjoy!