Outside India, the festival is celebrated mainly by the Tamil speaking community settled in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka and many more countries around the world.

Thai pusam is dedicated to the Hindu god Murugan, the son of Shiva and Parvati and is a celebration of the victory of good over evil. It usually takes place in a temple.

On the Thaipusam day, most devotees of Lord Murugan adorn dresses of yellow or orange colour and offer him fruits and flowers of the same colour. It is said to be Lord’s favorite color.

I am not telling you the whole story about it because I myself do not know.

In short, the devotees vow to dedicate a Kavadi to the Lord in return for a favour. They perform various acts of devotion such as walking over burning coals.

Many fanatical ones go to an extent to torture their bodies to appease the Lord. So, a major feature of Thaipusam celebrations is body piercing with hooks, skewers and small lances called ‘vel’. Many of these devotees even pull chariots and heavy objects with hooks attached to their bodies.

BTW, these photos are from Mauritius.

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It was Ratnagiri and Ganapatipule to begin with. Temples, forts and beaches greeted us with stories of their own.

Then it was Bangaluru. solo trip. Somehow I felt more uncomfortable in going around in Bangaluru than any other south Indian cities.

Glass house… next time I’ll go during flower show

Chennai happened after that. Chennai has a special place. Also, local food and shopping for silk sarees never ceases there.

With Chennai, it was Puducherry, the French town.

Then in summers it was again a solo 3 day trip to Hyderabad, my first to the city. I stayed in a hotel opposite railway station and had glorious time walking along the lake, negotiating with the autowalas and arguing with saviours of women.

In the end, last week there was a whirlwind trip to Delhi. Hopes for some more places could not materialize for various reasons.

Red Fort with tricolor at the top..

Besides these Indian places, two more countries were added. Mauritius and Malaysia.

Spending 5 days in Mauritius was awesome. If you go by time difference then it’s only 1:30 hours away from India but it took more than 18 hours to reach !

The flight was via Dubai with a long waiting period. Having already seen beautiful Dubai city, there was no charm in staying inside the airport this time.

Mauritius…..

In October it was Malaysia for a 12 day trip. I coaxed and sometimes forced V to do some unusual things, one example… staying in a dorm.
Otherwise we both like trying local cuisines and transports and exploring places on foot.

Famous Petronas

I wish our new year 2010 is filled with more travel.
So, that was my travel story. What was yours ?

P.S.- I think I am forgetting some more places. I’ll add them as & when I remember.

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