BY ALLAN JAY AND NUR ASHIKIN LOUIS
KUCHING: Although Thaipusam is a religious festival celebrated by the Tamil to honour Lord Murgan – the Hindu god of war and a son of Shiva — everyone regardless of race and religion, is welcomed to join in and watch the festival… provided that he or she is prepared to be both enthralled and astounded.
New Sarawak Tribune attended the Thaipusam festival yesterday and saw many tourists and people of other religions in the crowd.
Fashion designer Syamimi Aniji, 21, said she had been following Thaipusam processions since her childhood days but going to the temple for the ceremony itself was definitely a first.
“It is truly an amazing experience to get to know other people’s beliefs and you get to know people just in one place,” she said.
“The celebration itself is about worshipping god but I think we should have mutual respect for one another despite our beliefs.
“There is so much friendship and unity here,” she continued, adding being from a Melanau-Malay family did not stop her from learning to speak and sing in Tamil.
Meanwhile, a German national Andreas Lienert, 22, who is currently undergoing his internship with one of the local tourism companies, is a first-timer to the Thaipusam festival.
He said he was tipped off by his boss on the event and the idea of seeing how it was celebrated really got him thrilled and excited.
“Thaipusam festival is very interesting and very colourful.
“I was very surprised that someone can do that (piercing ritual) without (the hooks and skewers attached to the bodies) breaking together.
“But as I see it, because of their faith and religion, they can withstand the pain. This is something very interesting to me,” he said.
Sarawak Indian Women Association (SIWA) founder Penghulu Lucy Lingam said the festival’s turnout yesterday was “very encouraging”.
“Of course, it’s weekend, people take the chance of a day free from work. But still, it is such a happy feeling to be able to share the festival with all Sarawakians and tourists alike,” Lucy said.
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Stakan branch secretary Sivanesan Sanmugalingam, on behalf of the Hindu community, thanked the Sarawak government for making the festival possible.
“Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government has been supporting all the (religious) communities including ours (Hindu).
“Both temples, Sri Maha Marriamman Temple and Sri Srinivasagar Kaliamman Temple, have received a lot of support from the government.
“The police, too, deserve our thanks for helping us to take care of the traffic during our procession.
“All this cannot be done without the help of our government,” he said, adding that the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) established by the Sarawak government was a blessing for all the religions in the state.
