Kavadi bearer cleanses sins without piercings for Thaipusam this year

GEORGE TOWN: Apart from the large, colourful structures carried by the kavadi bearers during the Thaipusam festival, another significant characteristic about these worshippers was the piercings around their body, most notably using skewers or vel spears, symbolising the burdens they carried.

However, 2021 is an unprecedented year in which the Thaipusam celebration in Penang has been cancelled and devotees are not allowed to visit the temples to do their prayers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both the state and the federal governments have urged all devotees to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOP) to curb the spread of COVID-19 and urged them to do their prayers at home.

This has put the kavadi bearer R. Karunaji in an unusual spot, as he had been preparing to purge himself mentally and physically for almost three months solely for this annual tradition.

"For the past 55 years of celebrating Thaipusam as a kavadi bearer, this is the first time I prayed at home, and without carrying my kavadi or wearing any piercings," he told Bernama when met at his home at Lorong Macalister here today.