Thaipusam Eve

Thaipusam Eve Procession

I got to the junction of Jalan Sultan and Jalan Tun HS Lee just before midnight. There was a large crowd plus presence from the police and volunteer firefighters (who had their own paramedics).  It was too hard to get any closer to the Sri Mahamariamman Temple (where everything will start from) which was half a block into Jalan Tun HS Lee.

It started drizzling. Soon after midnight, fireworks went off. This is now the eve of Thaipusam (click here to know more about Thaipusam). The police van started moving slowly followed by a lorry of musicians.

Another lorry carried a brightly lit float containing a statue of Lord Murugan flanked by several priests). This was referred to as the chariot by some.

A crowd followed the chariot on foot at snail’s pace. Tucked in the crowd were some devotees dressed in yellow and barefooted, carrying metal jugs of milk on their heads, chanting “Vel, vel, vel …” (referring to Lord Murugan’s spear).

In this day and age, it appears no one knows how to carry a jug on their head without holding it with one hand. I suppose it isn’t a good time to practice in a large jostling crowd. The 14km journey to Batu Caves for them would take about 13h (arriving early afternoon).

Google Maps suggests that it should take just over 3h at normal walking pace. In the tropical heat, the jug of milk should have turned into yoghurt by the time they get there. There were a couple of kavadis being carried and no body piercing of any kind was observed. I enquired with bystanders who advised that the serious stuff will be on Sunday, which is the actual day of Thaipusam, over at Batu Caves.

Text continues after this gallery.

Most of the activity was over by 0100 and the area looked like a war zone with lots of litter. The council’s cleaning contractor started work clearing the rubbish immediately.

After a light supper from 7-Eleven, I was in bed by 0200.

In Broad Daylight

After a good night sleep and spending half the morning doing my fortnightly admin and paperwork (so it doesn’t hit me after 3 months away), I ventured out. There was not a hint of the frenzy that took place only several hours ago.

Text continues after this gallery.

I did my KL routine again with an ais kacang at the Pavilion followed by a blind massage at Bukit Bintang. I walked there and back; even though it took only 20 minutes each way, it felt like a very hot and sweaty workout. I did depart from my “usual” slightly by dropping in to Uniqlo to buy a couple more shirts that I really liked from a few months ago. I feel like such a big boy when I do that as I normally don’t buy my own clothes.

Unplanned outing to Batu Caves

I had settled into bed to review my photos.  But at 10pm, I had a sudden wave of motivation. I decided I’d go to Thaipusam. I had originally planned to go in the morning in broad daylight and also in the evening. But now, I’m gonna get there at midnight when Thaipusam actually starts (plus another trip in the morning in daylight).  Edit:  I now that this along with the Thaipusam daytime were good times to go.

I wanted to take the bus to Batu Caves as I’ve seen them departing from around the corner outside Bangkok Bank. This seems to be the most direct way. I spoke briefly to a hotel staff on my way out and he insisted that I take the KTM Komuter train’s direct service. I thought it would be too inconvenient as it required a change but apparently I can walk to another station (the old Moorish Kuala Lumpur station) which seemed too far on a map. In actual fact, the station is connected by walkway to the nearby Pasar Seni station.

I got to the station only to miss the train by seconds. The KTM staff advised that there would be another one very shortly and he was absolutely right. The ride was at crawling pace through the city’s built up area but despite that, the journey only took 25 minutes. I was pleased to have come by train as the traffic on the roads were at a standstill.

Upon arrival, I immediately checked on the return train arrangements and was pleased to find that KTM have 4 days and 3 nights of round-the-clock service. They’ve also created additional exits, entrances and ticket booths at the Batu Caves station to cope with the flood of humanity. The additional exits and entrances are manned by ticket checkers and also have temporary Touch’n Go readers installed too. Well done KTM Komuter; you impress me!