Thaipusam is among the most fascinating religious festivals in the world. One of the largest celebrations of this annual Hindu pilgrimage takes place in Malaysia, where more than a million devotees gather at the MahaMariamman Temple in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and proceed to the Batu Caves temple on the outskirts of the city.

Thaipusam is no mere walk, though. The 15-kilometer eight-hour procession is a test of faith, during which participants take on kavadi (burdens), carrying various items, piercing their bodies and/or practicing self-flagellation. These masochistic acts are intended as atonement for sins or gratitude for answered prayers.

Observed primarily by the Tamil community, Thaipusam commemorates the day Lord Siva’s consort, the powerful goddess Parvati, gave their youngest son Lord Murugan a vel (lance) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman. The day falls on the full moon of the 10th Tamil month Thai (January/February), when Pusam (the star of well-being) is at its highest point.

The festival was brought to Kuala Lumpur in 1892 by early Tamil immigrants. Two of them are said to have made the difficult climb up the limestone hill to plant a vel in the largest of the Batu Caves. The cave became the site of a temple dedicated to Lord Murugan, while the temple in the city was built to honor Parvati.

For 40 days leading up to Thaipusam, devotees cleanse themselves through viratham (abstinence). Many follow a strict vegetarian diet and renounce all forms of comfort and pleasure, spending the time in meditation and prayer.

As the day of the procession dawns, the area around the temple takes on a carnival-like atmosphere. Religious songs are played on nathaswaram (long wooden pipes) and trance inducing rhythms are beaten on drums. In a dazed state, pilgrims take on their kavadi, with those being pierced apparently feeling no pain and shedding little blood.

Some medical experts who have witnessed the ritual suggest that the white ash smeared on the body, the lime juice squeezed onto the skin or the milk poured over the piercings might help to numb the flesh, but most confess that they have no reasonable explanation for the lack of damage done by the punctures.

During the procession, many devotees carry offerings of milk in brass or silver paal kudam (milk pots). Sometimes they balance large pots on their heads, but more often they attach many smaller pots to their backs or chests with hooks. Some hook fruit onto their bodies instead: limes, lemons, oranges or even coconuts. Others pierce their tongues and cheeks with hooks, skewers or tridents.

Some pilgrims shave their heads to demonstrate humility. And couples whose prayers for children have been answered carry their babies in saffron cloth cradles suspended from poles supported by the mother at one end and the father at the other.

Most spectacular, however, are the devotees shouldering vel kavadi, portable altars as tall as two meters, decorated with images of deities, peacock feathers and flowers and set atop yokes of spikes that pierce the body of the bearer. Sometimes the altars are pulled, connected by chains or ropes to hooks in the bearers’ backs.

In Kuala Lumpur, a five-ton silver chariot carrying an effigy of Lord Murugan leads the procession to the Batu Caves. Spectators lining the route smash coconuts as offerings in front of the chariot as it passes.

Friends and family members walk with pilgrims bearing kavadi to provide assistance and encouragement. When the procession reaches the foothills, participants ritually cleanse themselves in a stream then ascend the 272 steps to the cave temple, where they pour their offerings of milk over the shrine of the vel.

Criticized as dangerous and contrary to the intention of Hinduism, Thaipusam has been banned in India. Curiously, though, ethnic Chinese have joined the celebrations in Malaysia, which also take place at Penang and Ipoh. A large Thaipusam festival is held in Singapore as well.

British Columbia travel writer Toni Dabbs is a regular contributor to The Cultured Traveler.