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KUALA LUMPUR: More than 1.5 million people are expected to converge on the Batu Caves temple here for the Thaipusam celebration.
With two weeks to go before the festival on Jan 23, preparations are in full swing to ensure better crowd control and facilities.
Among others, the temple committee will be spending about RM20,000 a day during the festival to treat the "prayer milk" which coagulates in the drain.
There are also 25 new permanent toilets near the Sri Venkatajalapathi temple.
These will complement the 80 toilets at the Sri Sanes-warar Temple located 500 metres away.
The temple committee has also come up with a better rubbish collection system.
Thirty cleaners will be hired on two-hour shifts throughout the five-day festival period. The rubbish will be placed in three stationary compactors which are able to crush up to 24,000kg of rubbish an hour.
The crushed waste will then be stored at a transfer station where it would remain until it is sent to the landfill.
The temple committee is also seeking the help of the Selayang Municipal Council to keep the beggars away from the 6.5ha temple complex during the festival.
"We have so many things to deal with to ensure that the celebration proceeds smoothly.
"Text messages calling for a boycott of the celebration is the last thing on our minds," said Sri Maha Mariamman temple chairman Datuk R. Nadarajah.
He was referring to text messages that have been circulating urging Hindus to boycott the Thaipusam celebration at Batu Caves.
The text messages claimed that the temple committee had allowed the police to enter the temple complex during the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally in November to disperse the supporters who had gathered there.
"This is propaganda against Hinduism. No one from any religion will call for a boycott against a temple or any religious place," Nadarajah said.
"You do not have to support me or contribute to the temple but don't boycott the temple.
"Don't worry or panic and spread rumours. There will be two FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) trucks as usual and the Selangor police force will be here on Jan 23 to handle the crowd," he said.
Yesterday, the temple committee started registering traders who would be setting up shop during the festival. By noon, some 260 of the 345 lots had been snapped up.
A successful applicant, Ka-thirasan Kannusamy, said he had faith that it would be business as usual during the festival.
"I've also received the text message but I consider it a rumour.
"In my six years of trading in textiles during the Thaipusam celebrations here, the crowd has never gone down and it's more likely to increase this year," said the 56-year-old.
