KUALA LUMPUR – For the first time, the Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple’s silver chariot will make this year’s Thaipusam journey with a limited participation of 10 people without involving the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The chariot processions, which started in 1983, are normally accompanied by 10,000 Hindu devotees and take about 16 hours, but this time, its journey will be faster and is expected to end in about three hours without any stops.
Temple committee chairman Tan Sri R. Nadarajah said the 10 people accompanying the 7.3m-high chariot includes the driver, electrical technician, lighting man, a temple priest and five committee members.
The silver chariot ferrying the statues of Murugan and his two wives Valli and Theivanai will depart from the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee here at 2.30am tomorrow after a prayer ceremony.
“The chariot is expected to arrive at Batu Caves between 5.30am to 6am on the same day. It will return to the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple at 2.30am on January 29,” he said today.
He stressed that the chariot would travel to Batu Caves, which is renowned for the biggest Murugan statue in the world with a height of 42.7 metres, without any traditional musical accompaniment or stops as it has over the years, and will be strictly supervised by police.
Yesterday, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said only the journey of the chariot bearing the statue of Murugan to Batu Caves was allowed and it will be unlike the processions usually conducted during Thaipusam in the past.
Nadarajah promised that during the chariot’s journey, everyone involved will be compliant with the standard operation procedures set by the National Security Council and Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
He also urged devotees not to take part in the procession and not visit Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple on Thaipusam day (Thursday) in light of the nation’s Covid-19 situation.
Thaipusam is a festival celebrated by Hindus worldwide in the month of Thai – the 10th month in the Tamil calendar – to commemorate the event of Murugan receiving a holy spear from his mother, Parvati, to eradicate the evil force, Soorapadman, and bring peace and prosperity to humankind. – Bernama, January 25, 2021
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