Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25065
TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY: MARC BENNETT 'I , sacred weapon of Lord Murugan. the vel. pierces tongues and cheeks. Some observe silence. Others do greater penance and impale their backs with four-inch hooks attached to colorful ropes pulled by assistants. Eyes roll and vibrant. red kum kum powder is smeared. Many men have more than a hundred hooks weighted by limes in the taut flesh of their torsos; some roll down the searing asphalt lane to the 272 stairs that lead up to the cave. The heavyweights carry a kevadi. a steel lattice frame with images of deities delicately enshrined by peacock feathers. flowers and pretty colored ribbons. Worshippers with a few hundred flesh-embedded hooks attached to light chains are followed by earnest drummers who pound strong rhythms while inspired singers wail Tamil chants into bullhorns to encourage the kevadi carriers in their trances. All night the air is choked with burning camphor. thousands stream along the road and up the stairs into the cave-a scene Fellini couldn't have imagined. Outside the cave. dozens of stalls sell cassettes. dal and dosas. cold drinks. and several offer to shave heads. About noon. fatigue wins. Slowly the crowd thins but the stalls still pound out Hindi pop. Next year the Thaipusam Festival will take place in February. You can get to the Batu Caves-10 miles north of Kuala Lumpur-by taking a taxi or a city bus from Chinatown or the Pertana Shopping Center. Plan to stay the entire night and into the next day-once you get there, you'll get caught up in the festivities and won't want to miss a moment. Dress ruggedly, spiritual ecstasy can get sweaty and dusty.