Malaysia's Piercing Praxis Everyone in the country joins in Tai
Pusam With fish hooks embedded in their backs and spears
piercing their cheeks, hundreds of thousands of Malaysian Hindus
marched toward a prehistoric cave today in an annual ritual of
penance. The festival known as Tai Pusam was brought to Malaysia
in the 19th century by Indian immigrants who came to work on
rubber estates and in government offices. In Malaysia, the
pilgrimage drew one million people today--devotees and camera-
snapping onlookers alike--to a temple at the Batu Caves just
north of the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Near the foothills of the
temple, a penitent carried a 100-pound kavadi up the 272 steps
to the top. The kavadi, a metal frame cocooning the penitent's
body, is attached with hundreds of thin hooks and steel shafts.
An estimated 9,000 people carried it at the festival. A stream
of trance-induced devotees followed the path up the temple steps
today to pay homage to their deity, Lord Muruga. Their
foreheads, tongues and cheeks we