Posts Tagged ‘Festival’

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Hindu family pray to Jade Emperor

February 15th, 2008
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Hindu family marks Jade Emperor’s birthday

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PENANG: A Hindu family here has been taking part in a long-practised tradition among the Chinese.

S. Ganesan, 32, and his family members joined their Chinese friends in celebrating Thni Kong Seh (Jade Emperor’s birthday) which started at midnight yesterday.

Festive mood: Ganesan (fourth from left) and his relatives celebrating Thni Kong Seh at his Jalan Solok Sungai Pinang home in Penang last night. The Hokkien-speaking Indian family also observes other Chinese celebrations like the Hungry Ghost and Mid-Autumn festivals. » Read more: Hindu family pray to Jade Emperor

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Penang Silver Chariot

January 20th, 2008
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Silver chariot gets cleaned and polished

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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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MIC hotline to start in April

January 16th, 2008
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One of the positive outcome from Hindraf rally is the plan by MIC to set up a hotline, which was to take 6 months to set up. No reason was given then for the extremely long during. Now, SV says its part of their modernisation of the MIC HQ as well. The call centre is expected to be ready by April.

MIC also said there will be a special committee…

By K. Harinderanharinderan@nst.com.my

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KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC is setting up a hotline call centre at its headquarters here to address problems faced by Indians in the country.

"The centre, which will be fully operational in April, will be manned by professionals who will record and refer the problems received from the community to the relevant offices within the MIC," MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday. "We are modernising the MIC headquarters in line with our objective to have a new outlook in facing the general election."

He said the future for Indians was bright under the leadership of Prime Minster Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who was receptive to problems facing the community.

He said a vote for the opposition in the general election would be detrimental to the nation's progress.

Only the MIC could cater to socio-economic needs of the Indian community and developments. Incidents in the past two months had been detrimental to the hard work and position of the Indians, he added.

Samy Vellu, who is also the works minister, said he would be asking for an allocation of RM3.8 billion for new projects this year. This is because its present allocation has run out. "The billions allocated by the government last year have been reduced to a mere RM20."

He said this after launching the 6th annual Ponggal celebration which was attended by over 800 people at Menara Kuala Lumpur. Colourful earthen pots, sugar cane and visitors in traditional Indian outfits added colour to the festivities.

Ponggal, which has been celebrated over the last 5,000 years, originated from Tamil Nadu in India and is observed by Hindus to thank God for a bountiful harvest.

"I am lucky to be here for the festival and experience first-hand a facet of the Indian culture," said Elizabeth Heise, 74, a tourist from Holland.

The event was organised by Putera MIC. Putera MIC national co-ordinator P. Kamalanathan said a similar event was organised in Chennai, India, this year under the theme "The Colours of Ponggal from Menara KL" to highlight the unity and understanding of the various races in Malaysia.

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Posted in BornInMalaysia

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Penang Hindu Endowments Board replies

January 15th, 2008
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The Hindu Board replies to attacks on its status.

Said Kumaraendran: "The board has never been a political tool of the ruling coalition. (Its) commissioners and temple management committee-members have always been appointed based on merit and (their) credentials, (not) political affiliation as alleged."

 

They are all appointed by the state governor on the advice of the state government based on their track-record as persons of high esteem in the society.”

– wonder how they define merit and credentials. Based on the track record?

Penang Hindu Board 'not BN political tool'
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/77039
Athi Veeranggan | Jan 15, 08 2:37pm

The Penang Hindu Endowments Board has defended itself against allegations that it has become a political tool of the MIC and Gerakan in Penang and that it is acting beyond its powers.

K Kumaraendran rebutted the claim that political considerations have been the yardstick for the appointment of commissioners and committee- members, who manage the five temples in the state. 

A commissioner and lawyer, he was commenting on a Malaysiakini report last Friday, in which United Hindu Religious Council president G Mugunthan had alleged there is rampant political meddling in the annual appointments. 

Said Kumaraendran: "The board has never been a political tool of the ruling coalition. (Its) commissioners and temple management committee-members have always been appointed based on merit and (their) credentials, (not) political affiliation as alleged.

"They are all appointed by the state governor on the advice of the state government based on their track-record as persons of high esteem in the society.”

Hindu endowments belonging to the hilltop Waterfall Temple – Sri Balathandayuthabani Kovil (photo) – Sri Ramar Kovil in Dhoby Ghaut, Sri Kunj Bihari Krishan Mandir, Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil in Lebuh Queen and Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil in Butterworth are administered by the board.

Under the Hindu Endowment Ordinance, the state governor on the advice of the state executive council appoints a board of commissioners, one of whom must be a government officer.

The board then sets up an endowment management committee consisting of members of public professing the religion applicable to the endowments – in this case, Hinduism.

'Orderly festivals'

According to Mugunthan, political-based appointments of commissioners have become a norm since the 1980s.

Even the board chairperson is a politician, he said, referring to former MIC state chairpersons T Suppiah and K Rajapathy, and current state deputy chairperson PK Subbaiyah.

Over the years many MIC division leaders and prominent Gerakan Indian leaders have been appointed as commissioners. 

Reliable sources had claimed that Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon (photo ) has insisted on "his men from Gerakan" being appointed.

Kumaraendran also refuted the allegation that the board had overstepped its jurisdiction.
The board is entrusted with managing the temples and their endowments and to organise their religious festivals, he noted.

In this respect, it has a legal obligation to ensure that religious festivals are celebrated in correct and orderly manner.

This involves implementing measures to regulate tanneer panthal (refreshment booths) and installing a centralised system to control the type of music played during Thaipusam each year.

"Various quarters have commended the board for its actions to bring more order into Hindu religious festivals," he added.

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International Ponggal Festival at KL Tower

January 15th, 2008
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Having confirmed that the International Ponggal Festival was on 15th, I decided to attend it today. First time to Menara KL as well, so took the chance to go up the tower. More on that later.

I reached the tower at 9.45am , was at the observatory till 10.30am. It was blazing hot. By the way, parking is RM2.65 per hour, in case you wonder. The preparation for the festival was going on. The organisers were moving about – registering participants, arranging the pots and so on.

The function was organised by Putera MIC, under Mr Kamalanathan.

The crowd began to trickle in around 10.45am, mostly students (including foreigners) from local universities like UM and UNISEL. There were few families, and few tourists as well. I estimated that there were between 80 to 100 pots available, but about a quarter of them were not taken. The organizers asked those that had 4 people in a team to break up into two-per-team. Maybe being a weekday caused less participation.

The crowd was enthusiastic – most started the fire and poured the milk, until the organizer had to ask them to wait for the VIP. VIP was none other than MIC Chief Dato Seri Samy Vellu. He came in at around 11.15am .

There was a welcoming dance – a classical one – performed by malay dancers (as highlighted by the MC), followed by speech from Mr Kamalanathan.

This was followed by another dance. I can’t remember if Samy Vellu gave a speech, since I was busy snapping photos. I only heard Samy Vellu being invited to launch the festival by pouring milk in the pot – the first step in making “ponggal”.

Samy Vellu then went around and talked to the participants. The participants were quite jovial and some posed for photographs. The walkabout took around 15 minutes.

The participants were busy tending to their pots, hoping to be the first to have the milk boil and overspill. There were cries of “Ponggalo Ponggal” denoting that participants managed to get it right. The event went on till about 12pm, at which I left the venue.

 

Overall, it was good program, though it could have started a bit early to avoid the afternoon sun. I was expecting a larger crowd, so a bit surprised at the crowd. It also reminded me of the ponggal festival we used to organize while in university those days. Sigh….those were the days!

Photos are at Picasa.

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Posted in I Was Here, Indian

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