I managed to visit Puchong Batu 14 Mariamman Temple for the prayers. Below is a recording of the kummi adithal dance during the prayers.
I’m sure you are aware of the Girivalam at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, India which is held during Karthigai Deepam. This is one of the the five holy sites (pancha stalam) whereby Lord Siva is worshiped as an element (in this case, as fire).
IN THE past years, the Malaysian Hindu Sangam (MHS) and other Hindu associations have been organising prison visits to give inmates moral encouragement and spiritual support during Deepavali.
Now, the NGOs have gone a step further by including visits to the Kajang prison during the Hindu New Year as well as during the nine-day Navarathiri festival.
Kajang Prison deputy director ACP S. Gunasegaran said he welcomed the gesture while addressing members of the Hindu-based organisations during their visit recently to bring cheer to the inmates and donate foodstuff in conjunction with the Festival of Lights.
Good news: MHS president R.S. Mohan Shan (fourth from left) and Gunasegaran (third from left) joining other Hindu organisation representatives in cutting the goodwill cake during their visit to the Kajang Prisons a week before Deepavali.
“The additional visits will make the inmates feel like they are still part of society,’’ said Gunasegaran.
Meanwhile, Prisons coordinator S.K. Thanikasalam said various Hindu organisations were jointly working to provide a syllabus to help the Hindu inmates with weekly programmes and a halfway home to act as a rehabilitation centre for those released from prison.
Thanikasalam said that one home had already been established in Sungai Petani, with another project planned in Kajang.
“This will be in line with helping the discharged prisoners. We will work with the various prison authorities to formulate a system where the MHS is informed whenever a prisoner is released or about to be released so that it can take over the responsibilities of rehabilitation,’’ added Thanikasalam.
The group also spread cheer among the Hindu inmates with religious counselling and talks conducted at both the men’s and women’s prisons.
During their half-day visit, the committee also visited the prison for the juveniles.
Here’s the ad. Have a look and share your thoughts.
Basically the ad is about a Hindu guy who marries a Muslim. The pregnant wife is seen singing Tamil song while cooking muruku (symbolising her acceptance of some of the Indian-Tamil aspects) and later the couple is invited to celebrate Deepavali with the husband’s family.
At the grandmother’s house, the husband’s father and grandma are comfortable with the couple (symbolising that older generation are more forgiving and tolerant?) while the the husband’s siblings ignore the couple (symbolising that younger generation is more intolerant, narrow-minded, ignorant?).
The muslim wife is seen not partaking in the lunch because worried about the food being served. However, a malay neighbor drops by and informs the wife that the food was prepared by her (the malay neighbor) and its safe to eat (here, the muslim is seen worried about halalness of the food).
After the meal, the wife gets labor pain and we see everyone rushing to help her (symbolising that in times of need, the younger and older generation will help regardless of religion, race?).
Finally, the scene cuts to a hospital where everyone is in a joyful mood due to the first grandchildren (twins) being born to the family. Here the meaning may be that our differences (race/religion) can be overcome/forgotten when there’s good thing happening.
The ad can be easily misinterpreted to convey the message that converting is acceptable and the families of the convert will accept the convert. Indirectly, some feels its subtly (or subconsciously) promotes conversion to Islam among Hindus.
The ad doesn’t show any signs that husband has converted (he eats the food without thinking about the halalness nor does he advice his wife to eat), thus giving false impression that he is still a Hindu, but its a known fact that once you want to marry a Muslim, you must convert.
The ad also tells us that we should get a muslim to prepare the food for Deepavali because to cater for muslim. Well, sorry to say, its our open house and we will serve it any which way we like it. We can’t guarantee that the Muslim won’t use same utensils used to cook non-halal item like beef when preparing food for Deepavali. All my life, never did I see food prepared specially for Muslims for Deepavali (not including the Deepavali open house by politicians). I think this is a bad precedent to set.
While the ad doesn’t insult Hinduism (to me), i’ll say its an ad to promote conversion to Islam rather than a Deepavali ad. Its telling “OK to convert because everything will be OK in the end”. Unfortunately, we are leaving in an unequal state, thus we have lesser rights and depend a lot on the interpretation of the authorities on the “rights”. So, I expect nothing to change after this.
Some, like Senator Ramakrishnan questioned the ad, saying its belittling the holy festival. He also questioned why not show a reverse scenario where a person converts from Islam to Hinduism. But I think they forgot that’s a no-no in a unequal-rights country. Silap silap, get caught under ISA!
Finas on their behalf said there’s nothing wrong with the ad:
The Deepavali commercial by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) has nothing to do with religious conversions and it should not be taken out of context in the way it was conceived and acted out in the commercial.
Finas director-general Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim (right) said that the commercial was aimed at promoting 1Malaysia in the spirit of various races and families celebrating the different Malaysian festivals.
“This commercial is a follow-up to the commercial we had during Hari Raya when Muthu marries the Sarawakian, Rina.
“So we are portraying how Malaysians of different races celebrate their festivals and we will also have another follow-up during Christmas and Chinese New Year.
“This is a work of creativity and should not be mixed with politics.
“The advertisement was certainly not conceived to put down any race and the idea of conversions was not on our minds at all.”
Mahyidin was responding to senator S Ramakrishnan who had questioned the message the commercial’s producers were trying to put across.
The storyline, he added was similar to a Bollywood drama where there is conflict in the beginning and eventually it all ends well with a happy ending. When the commercial ends it shows a positive and happy mood among the two families.
The 30-second film – said to have appeared on RTM and Astro – shows how a male member of a Hindu family faces reluctance on the part of his siblings to accept his marriage to a Muslim girl.
The Muslim girl, on her part, shows reluctance to partake of the meals prepared by her in-laws. She concedes, however, after being assured the food is halal by a friend of the family.
It is only after the Muslim girl has given birth that her in-laws warm up to the fact of their marriage and display affection toward the new-born child.
Ramakrishnan noted that the Finas advertisement showed the hostility of the Hindu family while neglecting to address the compulsion on non-Muslims to convert before marrying Muslims.
Mahyidin said the advertisement was actually projecting tolerance and caring feelings among the different races. It demonstrates the various races showing respect for one another even when food is served and this is visible in the way the halal food is prepared for the visitors.
Hindu Sangam has called a recent television advertisement on Deepavali insensitive and is meeting Finas officials tonight to protest its screening.
The advertisement, produced by Finas, or the National Film Development Corporation, and aired in conjunction with Deepavali, has provoked protests from Hindu politicians and community leaders.
They are unhappy with what they say is the insensitive undertones portrayed in the advertisement.
In the commercial, a Muslim convert and his pregnant Muslim Sarawakian wife visit his Hindu family members for Deepavali. They are treated with hostility by the man’s brother and sister-in-law.
At lunch, the man’s wife is hesitant to eat the food until a Malay guest assures her that it is halal.
The advertisement however ends on a joyous note with the wife giving birth to twins.
“I find this advertisement insensitive. Even some of my Malay friends are unhappy with it,” Hindu Sangam central council member Shanta Venugopal said.
She said the advertisement in no way portrays the spirit of 1 Malaysia, adding that instead an advertisement showing all the races enjoying a Deepavali meal would have served the purpose.
DAP’s Senator S. Ramakrishnan said: “This advertisement was done in bad faith. It has a subtle message underlying it.”
Calling it a mockery of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept, Ramakrishnan told The Malaysian Insider that the repeated airing of the commercial could “subtly influence gullible and innocent people. They will be more accepting of Hindus converting to Islam. And why are they playing this advertisement during Deepavali?”
“The advertisement seems to be leading the community in one direction. Why does it have to be a Hindu converting to Islam? Why can’t it be the other way around?” Ramakrishnan asked.
Hindu Sangam deputy president Dr M Bala Tharumalingam said 45 Hindu NGOs, including the Hindu Sevai Sangam and the Hindu Youth Organisation, would be attending the meeting at its Petaling Jaya headquarters.
For me, say no to “conversion without proper counseling and information”. Counseling here means the convert-to-be should be counselled by his/her current religion officials/authority to ensure he/she is clear on leaving current religion. Information means the next of kin is made aware of the conversion plan BEFORE converting. Can or not? 🙂
Note: Still waiting for self-proclaimed guardians of Indian community to open mouth. Maybe to tired from all the deepavali open houses.
I read the coverage of the final hearing for Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) draft plan as reported by The Star below, and could only shake my head in wonder. There’s so many complications and factors involved in deciding things like location of places of worship , crematorium and cemeteries, and schools. Have to consider the feelings of the various stakeholders, and the “relative” rights of individual (we live in an unequal rights country).
Its well-known that approval for non-Muslim place of worships is rarely given, thus some of them are located in shoplots and houses (can easily find many churches in my area). Even the statistics are not proven to be correct, and often misused to say that there’s too many temples for population ratio. I think the government should fund an study to count the number of places of worship in the country. Can arrange for some research company to do it, and overseen by relevant ministries, respective state/district authorities and NGOs.
Another problem is cemetery. No one wants a cemetery next to their house (I think even mentioned in Hinduism scriptures to built house away from cemetery and crematorium) as it brings a negative conotation and usually leads to lower property value. Problem is, the people also want to have a burial place/crematorioum “nearby” for convenience, but as long as not “too near”. Its not easy to find such “ideal” location that can please everyone, but the effort must be undertaken. Let more public participation to take place so that can brainstorm better suggestions. Maybe MPAJ (or other authorities as well) can’t solve every problem because they are not smart enough or lack manpower.
Same goes for school relocation. If the majority population in an area is Chinese or Indian (or even if not majority, 25% and above will do), then should allocate enough space for both national school and vernacular school. If not, how to relocate schools from rural/underutilised areas? You can’t expect many sizeable areas to be 70-80% population by Chinese or Indian community, and then only want to relocate schools there.
THE Buddhist and Christian communities in Ampang are worried over the lack of space to build temples and churches following the final hearing for the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) draft plan yesterday.
Selangor Buddhist Development Committee (SBDC) secretary Chua Teck Seong said the Selangor Planning Guidelines and Standards from the Town and Country Planning Department, released in June 2006, stated that for non-Muslims, there should be a place of worship for every 2,600 devotees or 5,000 residents.
“Taking the figures from the 2000 census carried out by the National Statistics Department, there are 160,748 Buddhists in Ampang and therefore there should be 62 temples here,” he said.
He pointed out that there were only three sites in Ampang allocated in the draft plan for non-Muslims’ places of worship.
Another religion-based issue discussed at the hearing was Charis Christian Association spokesman Chok Poi Fong’s request for a Christian crematorium in Ampang.
Making his point: Ee speaking at the hearing as Lee (seated right) looks on.
“The nearest one is in Cheras and there is one in Petaling Jaya and Seremban respectively. Not only is the one in Cheras far away but it often breaks down and has a long wait-list,” Chok said during the hearing, adding that the crematorium could be shared by churches in the area.
State Housing, Building Management and Squatters Committee chairman Iskandar Abdul Samad, who chaired the hearing, said there was a discrepancy in the statistics provided by the religious groups who attended the hearing.
“For instance, we have been told at the hearing by SBDC that there are fewer than 10 temples in Ampang, but we know of two registered ones and another 24 which operate in homes and shoplots,” he said.
He said that according to state records, there were 10 Hindu temples, two Gurdwaras and 22 churces in Ampang.
“The state Town and Country Planning Department will have to meet with these groups and figure out these discrepancies,” he said.
Another issue heard was the proposal to allocate land for a Muslim cemetery in Taman Bukit Permai 2 that was met with both objections and support from the residents who turned up.
Pangsapuri Anggerik Joint Management Body (JMB) chairman A. Karim Mohd Esin said there was a critical need for a Muslim cemetery in Ampang.
“We support the gazetting of the land which is just next to our apartment and separated by a ditch.
“However, we would like to suggest that the community hall that will be built in the buffer zone to also have a surau and a funeral parlour,” he said.
Opposing the cemetery plan was resident Julia Long, 48, who said that it was unfair to the residents who had been living there since 2000 to have to put up with a cemetery beside their homes.
“When we bought our houses, the master plan indicated that the land next to our area was a forest reserve. I would prefer it to remain as such,” she said.
She added that bulldozers and excavators had tried to level the forest in 2008 without residents’ knowledge and it was only stopped after the latter appealed to MPAJ.
“A cemetery will mean increase in traffic in the area, she said, adding that she did not want any kind of development taking place at the site.
Another resident, Sara Chan, 44, said she would approve of the building community facilities like playgrounds at the site.
“Our property value will drop if a cemetery is built and I do not think that is right,” Chan added.
Another hot topic at the hearing was the issue of primary vernacular schools.
“We have received objections from five residents of Bukit Indah who do not want SJK (T) Ampang to be relocated to their area.
“We have also received petitions from residents who want part of a land to be used for a national school in Taman Saga to be given to the building of a Tamil vernacular school,” said Iskandar.
Taman Pandan Glades Residents’ Association chairman Terence Ee and Teratai assemblyman Jenice Lee voiced their support for the construction of a vernacular Chinese primary school in the open space along Jalan Perdana 6/2 in Pandan Perdana.
“I believe only a portion of the 2.45ha land is needed for such a school. The rest can still remain as an open space,” said Lee.
Iskandar said that the hearing, the last of four held for the MPAJ draft plan, was very good as residents came armed with facts and relevant arguments.
“All the information, suggestions and objections we have heard will be discussed at the State Planning Committee along with experts in December,” he said.
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The following are events that took place on 10th July 2009 and covers Tanjavur-Tiruvaiyaru-Tanjavur-Tiruchi route. Read about the previous day here.
After a long hiatus (like 1.3 years!), I managed to write about day 7 of our journey (just thinking about writing on the next 20-days to go gives me a headache!).
OK, here we go: We woke up quite early (around 6am) but our driver didn’t!We took the chance to take photos around the hotel. The hotel listed useful info such as places of interest and distance. Quite useful if you snap a photo of it for reference.
The garden
Still use old style padlock!
Ended up leaving the hotel around 7.10am for our first destination, the famed UN World Heritage Site-listed Brihadeeswarar Temple aka Tanjavur Periya Koyil (Big temple). The temple is huge due to the large ground area. The main deity is Lord Shiva in his lingam form (4 metres high!). The temple looks similar to Airavateswar Temple (which we visited on Day 6). The parking cost Rs10. The crowd was less, and we were blessed to witness the abishegam ceremony for Lord Shiva. Left the temple at 9.30am for breakfast.
Had breakfast at nearby Abirami Restaurant, and then followed by trip to Tanjavur Palace which houses the museum.
The museum houses many artefacts from early as 7th century AD. A must visit for history and archeology fans. Spent about an hour here (10 to 11am).
The whale bone from 1955
Next stop, the Saraswati Mahal (a library) which is just next to the Tanjavur Palace (they share the same compound). There’s also a shopping gallery called the Tanjore Collections on the upper floor, under the auspices of Tanjore Handicrafts Workers Co-op Cottage Industry Society. Spent about 30 minutes here.
We proceeded to Saint Tyagaraja Samadhi in Tiruvayaru. He was a renowned poet and musician who lived in the 18th century. He was born in Tiruvarur (not to be confused with Tiruvayaru which is close tho each other) and was named in honor of Lord Tyagaraja of Tiruvarur (The Tiruvarur chariot comes to mind).
The Samadhi is located on the banks of Kaveri river. Around middle of the year, Kaveri looks like desert!
Kaveri looks like this after rainy season starts:
We then stopped by the Arkondan Big Temple but since it was noon time, the temple was closed. We walked around and got kind of chased away since they didn’t like us snooping around.
Unique feature: Two Vinayagars
Left at 2.30pm to our next destination, shopping at Poompuhar Handcidraf Centre next to our hotel. We spent about 1.5 hours there and then check-out from hotel to proceed to Sivaganga Park.
Sivaganga Park is just like our playground or parks, except that its quite run down and simple-looking. There’s a diesel powered train that runs through the park, which takes about 10 minutes. The diesel smell is overwhelming, so skip it if can. You can walk the entire park within 20 minutes actually. Nothing much to see except some animals in cages. You can also view the gopuram of Brihadeeswarar Temple from the park. The park houses Sivaganga Teppakulam (water tank). All in all, we spent about 30 minutes here.
We left Tanjavur town at around 5pm and moved on to Tiruchi. Took about 2.5 hours. We checked into Hotel Mathura near the Tiruchi bus station. Had our dinner at the Sri Krishna garden/open air restaurant nearby. The meal was delicious.
That’s about it for Day 7. We had good day overall as we managed to cover our itinerary.
Photo of the day:
I would say that a visit to the Periya Koyil to view the abishegam is a must do!
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