Editing Batu Caves (section)

==Thaipusam festival==
[[File:Thaipusam_idols.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Thaipusam]] procession at Batu caves]]

The Batu Caves serve as the focal point of the yearly Thaipusam ({{langx|ta|தைபூசம்}}) festival, celebrated by [[Tamil Hindus]]. The temple attracts thousands of people for the elaborate festivities. [[Kavadi Aattam]] is a ceremonial act of sacrifice and offering practiced by devotees, which forms a central part of the festival.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Alexandra|title=Divinity and Diversity: A Hindu Revitalization Movement in Malaysia|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|year=2005|isbn=978-8-7911-1489-2}}</ref> ''Kavadi'' (meaning "burden" in Tamil) itself is a physical burden, which usually consists of two semicircular pieces of wood or steel which are bent and attached to a cross structure in its simplest form, that is balanced on the shoulders of the devotee and signifies a form of [[debt bondage]].<ref name="Hume">{{cite book|title=Portals: Opening Doorways to Other Realities Through the Senses|first=Lynne|last=Hume|year=2020|isbn=978-1-0001-8987-2| publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> Worshipers often carry pot(s) of [[cow milk]] as an offering (''paal kudam''). The most extreme and spectacular practice is the carrying of ''Vel kavadi'', a portable altar decorated with peacock feathers and flowers, that is attached to the body of the devotee through multiple skewers and metal hooks pierced into the skin on the chest and back.<ref name="Hume"/><ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20110823-cave-party-malaysias-thaipusam-festival|title=Malaysia's Thaipusam festival|date=26 August 2011|newspaper=[[BBC]]|access-date=1 November 2023|archive-date=26 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126062306/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20110823-cave-party-malaysias-thaipusam-festival|url-status=live}}</ref> 

People also do a form of [[mortification of the flesh]] by [[Body piercing|piercing]] the skin, tongue or cheeks with ''vel'' skewers and [[flagellation]]. [[Vibuthi]], a type of holy ash is spread across the body including the piercing sites. Drumming and chanting of verses help the devotees enter a state of [[trance]].<ref>{{cite book|title=They Do What: A Cultural Encyclopedia of Extraordinary and Exotic Customs from Around the World|first=A.G.|last=Javier|year=2014|isbn=979-8-2161-5549-2|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref> Devotees usually prepare for the rituals by keeping clean, doing regular prayers, following a vegetarian diet and fasting while remaining celibate for 48 days.<ref>{{cite book|title=Celebrating Life Customs Around the World: From Baby Showers to Funerals|first=Victoria|last=Williams|year=2016|page=334|isbn=978-1-4408-3659-6|publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref><ref name="BBC"/> A procession begins in the morning on Thaipusam from the [[Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur]]. A silver chariot weighing {{cvt|350|kg}} carrying the idols of Murugan with his consorts [[Valli]] and [[Deivanai]] is taken along the procession, accompanied by the devotees. After ritual bathing in the nearby Sungai Batu River, the devotees make their way to the temple.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Thaipusam in Malaysia|first=Carl Vadivella|last=Belle|year=2018|isbn=978-9-8147-8666-9|publisher=ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute}}</ref>