Durban - The Hindu festival of Thai Poosam Kavady, or Kavady, is dedicated to the Hindu god of war, Lord Muruga.
As Christians fast for lent and Muslims for Ramadaan, Hindus of Tamil Nadu eat vegetarian meals and forsake simple pleasures for 10 days to honour Muruga during this period.
The first day of kavady begins with a flag hoisting at the temple, which started yesterday. The main Kavady day is January 31.
It also marks the start of the fasting period, where devotees will visit temples daily until the final day, when the flag is taken down (on the 10th day).
A Kavady is a wooden oval structure that is decorated with flowers, frames, peacock feathers and different coloured cloths.
It is carried by a devotee to a Murugan temple. This action symbolises the carrying of one’s burdens to the Lord - seeking his help and guidance.
Devotees will walk barefeet with the kavady, banga (bamboo stick) or paal (pot) and once they arrive at the temple, offer Muruga milk.
Other staunch devotees will take piercings or pin themselves to a chariot (a two or four wheeled structure) which they will pull to the temple.
During the main day, some devotees pierce their bodies or hang various things like lime and coconut on themselves either in a trance form or on faith.
This symbolises their devotion to the Lord.
Due to that person’s devotion, it is believed he will help that devotee.
Om Shakti Guru Sankaran, of the Merebank Shree Parasakthie Alayam, said Kavady was practised differently in South Africa and India.
The guru, from Tamil Nadu, said people in India carried Kavady at any time of the year.
“In India, if you wish to carry Kavady, you do not have to wait. You can go to any Murugan temple and fulfil your wish. In South Africa, Kavady is observed from January to April. Also, in India, devotees make their own kavadies and prepare their own necessities, while temples here do everything.”
Sankaran, the former guru at the Shree Kalyana Pasupatheeswara Alayam in Karur for 15 years, said he had seen the power of Lord Muruga in his early days.
“When I was younger, I wanted to marry my now wife but because it was a love marriage, it was a problem for the elders,” he explained.
“One day I thought to myself, how can I open our way to our happily ever after marriage, and that’s when I decided I wanted to carry Kavady because I knew the Lord helped his devotees.
“I vowed to walk 126km from home to Palani, near the Murugan Temple, with a few friends and within two weeks my marriage was sorted. I live now happily with my wife and two sons.”
He said for him Kavady symbolised the carrying of one’s burdens, which was then rested at the feet of the Lord.
Since he joined the Merebank temple in 1996, the number of devotees that attended the festival, he said, had increased.
“On average, there are about 1500 devotees that attend the temple during the week and close to 6000 on Kavady day. We prepare about 140 pots of vegetable breyani to feed them.”
When he started only about 500 devotees attended.
Guru Sankaran hopes parents instil in their children the importance and power of carrying Kavady.