Jan 20 2008
Penang Silver Chariot
Silver chariot gets cleaned and polished
PENANG: Every year without fail, the 114-year-old silver chariot undergoes cleaning and polishing one month before the Thaipusam festival begins.
Managing trustee of the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple Trustees Datuk N. Ramanathan said yesterday A. Veerapathiran, 73, and his two sons V. Kajendrakumar, 39, and V. Sugumar, 38, have started cleaning and polishing the chariot housed in a shed opposite the Kovil Veedu (Temple House) in Penang Street. Veerapathiran has been carrying out the task for the past 40 years without any charge, as he considers it a service to God.
Ramanathan said a special prayer to Lord Muruga would be conducted at Kovil Veedu at 2am on Jan 21, before the deity was placed on the chariot. The chariot is expected to leave the Kovil Veedu on its journey to the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple in Waterfall Road at 6am.
The 7.3m-high chariot was brought by ship from India in 1894, and was made of wood and is silver-plated. The Chettiar community here commissioned for the silver chariot after the original wooden chariot started showing signs of decay. The new chariot parts, made in Karaikudi, India, arrived here in different shipments and were assembled locally. The wooden chariot was subsequently “sold” to a Lord Muruga temple in Medan, Indonesia.
Ramanathan said a VCD featuring the significance and importance of the Thaipusam festival with a voice-over done in English and Mandarin would be available by end of the year. “We produced one in Tamil in 2005 but found the need to do it in English and Mandarin for the benefit of non-Tamil speaking devotees,” he said. He said among others, the one-hour documentary touched on the rituals and prayers that began one month before Thaipusam.
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