Colourful Indians
Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Lord Murugan. It is often performed during the festival of Thaipusam and emphasizes debt bondage. The kavadi itself is a physical burden through which the devotees implore for help from Murugan.
While kavadis range from the simple to the complex, most involve some form of bodily mortification. Many kavadi bearers also take miniature vel-s, one of which is pushed through the tongue, the other through the cheeks. This symbolise the transience of the physical body in contrast with the enduring power of truth.
The most simple kavadi is undoubtedly the pal (milk) kavadi. This consists of a small wooden pole surmounted by an arch. Devotional pictures ofmurthi-s may be fixed under the arch. The kavadi many be decorated with peacock feathers, margosa leaves, flowers and other materials. This style of kavadi is recommended as the "approved model" by senior Malaysian Hindus.
Those who would bear a kavadi must in effect enter a period of renunciation and asceticism, several weeks of ritual purification which will prepare them for their encounter with the deity.
It must be prepared 48 days before Thaipusam.
During Thaipusam, they will climb through 272 steps until they reached the central of the cave and dance for ritual.
Then only will be unhooked.
