MORE than 500 Hindu devotees took to the streets of Clairwood to celebrate the annual Thaipoosam Kavady festival held at the Clairwood Shree Siva Soobramoniar temple on Sunday, February 16.

Also read: Flag hoisting ceremony to continue at Clairwood temple

The streets of Clairwood were a sea of yellow kavadies as Hindu devotees chanted their religious songs during the chariot procession.

Young and old carried their kavadies back to the temple after the prayer. Devotees were spiritually charged in music and dance.

Despite being a religious festival it was more of a carnival atmosphere, with the rattle of the drum beat and bhajan groups playing songs to their religious, while the ordinary devotees pulled the main chariot.

Spokesperson for the temple, Sidney Govindsamy, said the Thai Poosam festival is the largest prayer observance by the Hindu community.

“Thai Poosam is predominantly celebrated in both Sivan and Murugan temples, though Thai Poosam is more popular as a Murugan festival.

“It’s a festival which usually falls in the month of January or beginning of February. Generally, 10 days before Thai Poosam Kavady a flag is hoisted at temples, this flag hoisting is a way of giving notice of the coming event. The kavady is a ceremonial offering carried by devotees honouring Lord Murugan,” he said.

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Spiritual significance of kavady:

• Symbolism: It represents the burdens of life, which devotees carry as an act of devotion and surrender to Lord Murugan.
• Penance: Carrying the kavady is a form of penance, helping devotees atone for past mistakes and seek forgiveness.
• Spiritual growth: The physical act of carrying the kavady is believed to help devotees cultivate spiritual strength, endurance, and self-discipline.
• Community bonding: The collective carrying of kavadies fosters a sense of community and camaraderie among devotees.
• Cultural heritage: This tradition helps preserve the cultural heritage of Hinduism.

Carrying the kavady is a form of penance, helping devotees atone for past mistakes and seek forgiveness.
According to Hindu religion, kavady represents the burdens of life, which devotees carry as an act of devotion and surrender to Lord Murugan.

Where can the origins of Kavady be traced?

The tradition of carrying kavady was started by a great devotee of Lord Muruga, Idumban, who worshipped Lord Murugan at the Palani Hills temple in Tamilnadu (India) where he created the first kavady.

“It was a simple structure that consisted of a straight horizontal branch of a tree with two small pots of milk tied at either end and decorated by a wooden arch, flowers and peacock’s tail feathers. Idumban also pierced a small vel shaped skewer across his cheeks,” said Govindsamy.

It is believed that Idumban carried the kavady from the foothills of Palani to Lord Murugan’s Palani Andavan temple at the summit of the hills and offered the milk for Lord Palani’s (the form of Lord Murugan as a renunciate monk) abishegam.

“The physical act of carrying the kavady is believed to help devotees cultivate spiritual strength, endurance, and self-discipline. The collective carrying of kavadys fosters a sense of community and camaraderie among devotees. This tradition helps preserve the cultural heritage of Hinduism.

“At the Clairwood Shree Siva Soobramoniar temple, a lot of preparation goes into the kavady. Running up to the tenth day, there is daily feeding from different families, and on the main day we cook in the region of 15 to 20 pots of breyani for the devotees that frequent the temple,” he added.

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