What is Thaipusam ? Faith, ritual … and wild body piercings.

Thaipusam is a sacred Tamil thanksgiving festival involving asceticism and control over one’s senses. According to Tamil folklore, Thaipusam and the foot procession are celebrated in honour of Lord Murugan (also known as Lord Subrahmanya), who represents virtue, youth and power, and is the destroyer of evil. The annual Hindu festival Thaipusam is celebrated in honor of Lord Subramaniam, by the Hindu Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai around January/February. All devotees have to prepare themselves spiritually while maintaining a strict vegetarian diet. It's believed that only when the mind is free of material worth and the body free from physical pleasures can a person undertake the sacred task without feeling any pain. Every devotee looks in a trance state. Otherwise, they must feel pain because of the wires sticking out of their bodies. The devotee in the image was about to depart to the 4km of walking with kavadis. What an extreme festival.