Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email More crowd expected in other venues due to boycott of Batu Caves.
100,000 to flood temple
By DHARMENDER SINGH
PORT KLANG: A flood of requests from devotees this year has compelled the 160-year-old Sri Balasubramaniar Swamy Temple here to celebrate Thaipusam on a grand scale for the first time, with an expected crowd of 100,000 kavadi bearers and devotees.
Temple chairman R.S. Maniam said the committee had been inundated with calls from devotees who wanted to take their kavadi to the temple and the number was growing by the day.
“We are surprised by the sudden number of requests. This is the first time in the temple’s long history that the celebration will be carried out so grandly,” he said.
“Thaipusam is usually just a small affair here with only about 1,000 paal kudam (milk pot) bearers making the 3km journey from the Hari Krishna Alayar Temple in Jalan Tengku Badar.
|
|
He said the grandest annual celebration at the temple in Jalan Limbongan here was usually during the Chitrai Pournami prayers, where about 3,000 kavadi bearers take part. This celebration, which falls in the month of Chitrai in April/May marking the first full moon of the Hindu New Year, also honours Lord Muruga. Maniam said the committee was worried about its ability to handle the celebration on such a grand scale but said it would be improper to turn away devotees seeking to fulfil their vows.
He said some 10,000 kavadi were expected to be brought to the temple from about 6pm today for Thaipusam, which falls tomorrow.
On transport to the temple, he said, the public should use KTM Komuter as the Port Klang station was located just behind the temple.
In PENANG, police are bracing for a huge Thaipusam crowd tomorrow following widely circulated SMSes to boycott celebrations at Batu Caves in Selangor.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said more than 1,000 policemen would be deployed along strategic intersections.
“In previous years, between 50,000 and 70,000 devotees were here. This year, we expect the number to double in view of the SMSes and e-mails to boycott Thaipusam at Batu Caves,” he said yesterday.
