Vows and body piercings abound as Hindus celebrate Thaipusam in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR,  Malaysia (RNS) — The Batu Caves temple complex, built at the heart of a great limestone cavern cut in a hill, is usually a quiet place where tourists and worshippers are outnumbered by the monkeys and birds that seem to rule over the area.

But on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 23 and 24), more than 1 million visitors — both devotees from Malaysia's large Tamil community and tourists — congregated at the Batu Caves for the Thaipusam festival, one of the country's biggest Hindu celebrations. The annual festival is held during the month of Thai –- the fifth month in the Tamil calendar — in honor of Lord Murugan, Lord Shiva's son and adviser, whose shrine lies in the middle of the cave. In Hindu mythology, Murugan has defeated the demon army in order to protect humanity, and Thaipusam celebrates this victory.