“Wear something dark”, everyone was telling me days before the Maleldo Festival. The dark attracted the sunshine, but at least the blood drops were less visible.

Now I was kneeling in my room at Casa Chico, hunched over my bag. I wasn’t praying, just trying to rub away the dried bloodstains. The AC was on maximum, and I felt that the strength had left my body, covered by a shiny film of sweat. After a long day under the tropical sun and 34 degrees Celsius, which made quite a few people faint, the cold water from the fridge was cooling me down, slowly.

Good Friday in San Fernando, Pampanga province, is a bloody culmination of the Holy Week Philippines – the Cutud crucifixion festival.

Penitents carrying heavy crosses through villages, whipping themselves with bamboo sticks, or going through an actual crucifixion in Pampanga, were all experiencing the passion of Christ in his last days.

Maleldo, meaning ‘Holy Week’ in the Kapampangan language, is an extreme celebration of Filipino Easter, especially in the villages of Santa Lucia, San Juan, and the most famous – San Pedro Cutud.

Different cultures celebrate the Lord in different ways. Meet this Vietnamese Jesus!

Maleldo Festival – the origin of penitensya in Pampanga

Just one week before the bloodiest Christian holiday I’ve ever witnessed, a freelance journalist/writer from Manila explained what I could expect from the controversial event of the Maleldo Festival, 80 kilometers north of the capital.

“You get to see a lot of people hurting themselves”, Troy Bernardo told me. “For a religion such as Christianity, that should promote peace, the violence that penitents do to themselves is a sort of jarring image.”

The Church today discourages these radical religious practices in the Philippines because self-harm is contrary to its teaching on the body. But the Spanish friars were the ones who brought the idea of the penitensya (repentance for one’s sins) in the late 16^th century. The missionaries introduced scourging oneself with religious zeal – disciplina – in the canon Diego de Leon.

“Back then, the Catholic Church was mostly for the wealthy, and passage through heaven’s gates depended on how much one paid the friars for indulgence”, Bernardo wrote in his media coverage of the Maleldo Festival in Pampanga. “Unable to afford the financial demands of the Church, the poor spun their own way of paying for the indulgence: physical sacrifice.”

After witnessing the Maleldo festival once, Bernardo never returned to San Pedro Cutud. And he believed he never would, he said: “The expression of violence within this religion can be difficult to watch.”

Taoism followers in Phuket also go to extremes when performing their faith. When possessed by Nine Emperor Gods, devotees at Jor Soo Gong Naka Shrine sacrifice themselves at a self-mutilation festival!

Ruben Enaje nailed to the cross again

For several decades, Christians in this predominantly Catholic country had no difficulty watching Ruben Enaje‘s crucifixion. Exactly for 33 years, one for each year of Christ’s life, this Filipino painter went through crucifixion on Good Friday.

Every year, crowds were getting bigger and bigger. But Ruben was not getting any younger. Jesus Superstar of San Pedro Cutud’s crucifixion festival was 58 on his most recent nailing.

The actors playing Christ in the crucifixion reenactment in other districts were also not Jesus in his best years. Wilfredo Salvador, who played the Son of God in San Juan, was 62, while Melchor Mentoya in Sta. Lucia got crucified as a 64-year-old.

Was there a shortage of Jesuses who wouldn’t need to dye their gray hair? Would Ruben Enaje continue getting four-inch nails hammered into his palms and feet until, well, his death?

“I plan to stop next year”, he told me, while casually smoking a cigarette after his 33^rd Pampanga crucifixion. It almost seemed as if it became a routine, but the pain was certainly there, and stopping it was a part of the plan. Then again, Ruben Enaje has been announcing his retirement from the role of Jesus since 2013!

“There is still no one who would want to be the next one. Nobody wants to replace me!”, Ruben told me.

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Maleldo Festival job listings: searching for the next Jesus

Several people were crucified after the main play finished. Couldn’t they consider some of them for the reenactment of Jesus’ crucifixion?

“He should be a resident here! They are from other barangays (districts)”, Ruben explained.

The hypersensitive residential policy was not as strict in the past. For instance, the ban on foreign participation came only in 2015, to “prevent the Lenten rites from becoming a circus”. They decided this after some foreigners backed out at the last moment. Also, some were misrepresenting themselves or their goals, such as the Japanese who wanted to join the 1996 crucifixions for a scene in a porn movie.

From the local pool, the supply of potential Jesuses was getting shorter every year. However, San Fernando streets were full of men flagellating themselves and bleeding. Was there no successor among them?

“It seems those people are afraid to get nailed. They just do the flagellation, but they do not want to go through the crucifixion!”, Ruben Enaje told me. “I scream because I’m in severe pain. That is not acting!”

Cutud crucifixion festival history

The first crucifixion in the Philippines took place in 1962. Arsenio Añoza (in some accounts, he was called Artemio) was a faith healer in the town of Apalit. On Good Friday, he volunteered to get crucified at the climax of Via Crucis (Way of the Cross), the senakulo (passion play) written by Ricardo Navarro in 1955, in local Kapampangan language, and staged in San Pedro, Pampanga, ever since (later by Navarro’s son Rolando and his grandson Allan).

Añoza explained his decision to go through an actual crucifixion as a “means to get closer to Christ in his passion”. He performed the crucifixion at Pampanga festival annually, until 1976.

Bleeding in trance

The crucifixion in Pampanga has always been reenacted on Good Friday, the same day when Jesus was nailed to the cross.

I arrived in San Fernando four days before the crucifixion day. Penitence (or penitensya) was very visible on Maundy Thursday, as well as the earlier days of the Holy Week.

Hundreds and hundreds of bare-chested men, often with hooded faces to hide their identity, marched barefoot through the village roads, flogging their backs with burillo, bamboo sticks attached to the rope.

This would increase the blood drip from the cuts they previously did with panabad, a paddle tipped with broken glass, or with simple razor blades.

Supposedly, the bleeding would make them fall into a trance and experience a sense of elation later, called ginhawa.

Christians are not the only ones who undergo the rituals of self-harm in order to reach a greater level of devotion. Check out how Hindus engage in Thaipusam piercing at Batu Caves, or join the festival celebration on Penang Island!

Panata – making a deal with God

Self-flagellation was a ritual of atonement for their sins or a fulfillment of a vow for someone else.

“Maybe they have a family member who is sick or a sibling who is disabled suddenly”, Troy, the journalist, told me. “Sometimes, they also do it to cleanse their own sins. Some of them may have been in prison. They may have hurt other people. To get rid of all of that, they go through this process.”

In Tagalog, they called this promise made to God a – panata. It was a solemn agreement between the believer and the Almighty in which they exchanged suffering for wish fulfillment, a religious vow trade.

They called these people magdarame (in English: flagellants). With religious tattoos, rosary strings around their hands, veiled faces, and heads decorated with branches and vines resembling Christ’s crown of thorns, they carried heavy wooden crosses (mamusan krus), crawled on the burning asphalt for miles (pamagsalibatbat), or flagellated their bleeding backs (pamamalaspas). The process would imprint red stamps on their back, resembling bloody lungs or even hearts.

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Blood on children’s faces

In the days leading to Good Friday, one could see a lot of magdarame lashing themselves in their individual procession through the villages. They only stopped at puni. There were many improvised community-erected chapels like that.

These places came with palm-leaves decorated altars and loud sound systems so that everyone could hear the pabasa. The rhythmical chanting of the passion of Christ (Pasyon, a Philippine epic poem from 1704) went on and on, day and night, throughout the Filipino Holy Week. Chanters in this trad-style karaoke were all volunteers, and 24 hours a day, there was always someone behind the microphone.

When arriving at puni, magdarame would kneel in prayer. Then they would lie face down on the dirty ground in a pose of crucified Christ.

Others in their company, often young boys, would use the wooden sticks to hit their thighs and calves.

Some jumped into the role of little Roman soldiers with bloodthirsty eyes, which was painful to watch.

Some offered a glass of water after the beating penance, in genuine compassion for suffering.

On Good Friday, the number of flagellants grew high. They were marching in two lines, and the blood was splattering everywhere. The organizers’ decision to print the official Maleldo Festival T-shirts in red was self-explanatory!

Young and old, babies and grannies, they all showed up to watch this yearly ritual from the first row. Women used umbrellas to protect themselves from the red shower. The kids who were following the procession were covered in spots of blood, head to toe.

Some flagellants even started their whipping ritual when they were only 15 years old. In Paombong, Bulacan, in 2018, a 15-year-old boy even got crucified!

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Maleldo Festival dehumanizes the act of suffering

I wasn’t sure what to think about this blood frenzy on the streets of San Fernando.

On one side, it could have been an annual ventilation opportunity, where violence became justified by the Easter reenactment, so it would never repeat again.

On the other hand, I felt this was completely dehumanizing the act of suffering.

Some toddlers, girls, and women did watch it in obvious shock. Even dogs couldn’t help but express their fear by desperately barking at the bleeding caravan.

But the majority behaved neutrally in front of the whipped ones as if nothing unusual was happening. Some even had these sparkling eyes, obviously enjoying the violence while spanking the flagellants with their flip-flops.

Many had their phone cameras and selfie sticks out, ready to report the passion of Christ live if needed. On Friday, TV crews were stationed on the elevated platform just next to the crucifixion site, drones were flying above the thousands of visitors, while the section for the best viewing of the event was reserved for the “very important persons” (or VIP).

Is Easter in the Philippines all about exhibitionism and voyeurism?

The first day I visited the Calvary, when they just erected the crosses and started preparing the site for Good Friday, locals asked me if I wanted to take a selfie at the cross. While I did say ‘no’ to this strange offer, teenagers were climbing the crosses and posing for their Instagram feeds.

There was certain exhibitionism among the participants, too. Many times when I would photograph the exhausted flagellant on the floor, a kid with a stick would enter the frame and pose with a smile and approving hand gesture as if violence was suddenly a cool thing to memorize.

On the other side, some local flagellants would pull my sleeve even before the events, asking me if I wanted to photograph their wounds from yesteryears.

There was undoubtedly a level of showing off connected to this manly act of self-flagellation.

As a person who was not a practical believer, I felt strange to witness all of this. While local authorities were blaming foreigners for transforming their traditional event into “a circus”, it was a surprise to learn that I had higher respect or greater boundaries about what was appropriate or not.

Maleldo Festival dates

Holy Week (Mahal na Araw in Filipino, or Semana Santa in Spanish) is the final week of Lent. The dates are defined by the date of Easter Sunday, which falls on different date every year.

Here are the dates of the Holy Week - Maleldo Festival (Palm Sunday-Holy Saturday) in the following years:

2026 - March 29th - April 4th
2027 - March 21st - March 27th
2028 - April 9th - April 15th

The smell of blood made them faint

During the gory parade through the streets of San Juan, an older woman produced a loud groan and fell in front of the flagellating spectacle. A crowd quickly surrounded her like vultures, interested to see what happened. The floggers continued their march.

At the medical assistance tent, just next to the San Juan crucifixion site, I witnessed another unconscious woman being brought on a chair.

“She fainted because she smelled blood”, doctor Weng Salas explained to me later. “Also, she didn’t eat any breakfast, and she is even pregnant, in her first trimester.”

Obviously, not everyone was capable of witnessing harming people as just a benign Pampanga Holy Week tradition. The blood-spurting spectacle could curdle many people’s blood! But then, how do we know if those who chose to get crucified were ready for it?

Cutud crucifixion festival: Who can handle the real nails at Maleldo?

“Before the crucifixion, we check their vital signs”, the doctor explained. “We need to check the person’s health, to see if they are fit for the crucifixion, and we need to have their consent if they are willing to do it.”

It was slightly bizarre to see an emergency medical team ready to assist someone who wants to harm himself.

While this could pose so many ethical dilemmas, the same as euthanasia or assisted suicide, it seemed that the first aid teams here were aware they couldn’t stop these dangerous rituals, so at least they could give support to the crucified ones.

In the long history of crucifixion in the Philippines (and they started in 1962!), everyone “resurrected” so far.

The person who was nailing the devotees was already used to hitting the right spot, between the bones, for minimized damage. So everyone eventually recovered.

“After the crucifixion, we immediately check the wounds and dress them. These are dirty wounds, so we need to keep them open. We give antiseptic, povidone-iodine, and we give antitetanus for the prevention of tetanus. Of course, we need to give antibiotic medications too, and advise them on how to clean the wound. No surgery should be done. Usually, it takes a week to heal”, doctor Salas explained.

Define crucify

In case you were doubting Thomas: yes, they were using real nails at Filipino crucifixion rituals.

One of the staff members showed them to me just minutes before this taboo event. They placed them in a glass jar with alcohol for disinfection. Two for palms and two for feet.

Later, they would hammer them through the limbs of the local Kristo, holding him fixed on the wooden cross with the “INRI” sign attached.

The Philippines Good Friday crucifixion was a culmination of senakulo, the reenactment of the passion of Jesus Christ. Public places were stages for the Stations of the Cross, a drama in which amateur actors played villagers, priests, Roman centurions, and of course Jesus Christ.

When the 62-year-old Wilfredo Salvador, with gray hair and beard, walked to his Golgotha for the crucifixion, he met Mary on the way, as the Biblical story goes. It was unusual to see Christ’s mother at least twice as young as Christ himself, but the shortage of local Jesuses did not allow for a more realistic play.

When the crucifixion nails penetrated Wilfredo’s old hands, the play was suddenly very real. He did not act out his moans and painful grimace. His blood was not fake.

Why couldn’t Jesus be a – woman?

After they crucified Ruben Enaje in San Pedro Cutud, the stage welcomed other volunteers who came to be nailed to the cross. One of them was Mary Jane Sazon, a 44-year-old mother from Sta. Lucia, a different barangay.

“She is not from San Pedro Cutud, so she cannot play Jesus, I assume?”, I asked the blasphemous question.

“Noooo! And she is female, so… We prefer a male!”, a media staff person explained, looking confused about my question.

So: they do not allow her to play Jesus. But why is the idea of a woman’s crucifixion in Pampanga possible in the first place? Why do they let her defile the Golgotha with her female blood?

It was hard for me to understand the complex rules of what was appropriate or what was not appropriate in San Pedro Cutud Lenten rites.

In all three versions of the senakulo play, Jesus always seemed to be twice as old as his mother. While gray Jesus (and according to what we know, they crucified Jesus when he was 33) was bearable for the organizers, the notion of residency or gender of the actor was not questionable; it was almost dogmatic.

Miracles of the Pampanga crucifixion

Mary Jane had no intention to replace Ruben Enaje anyway. She was not doing it for the show. Her panata in the past was her own severe headaches, her sister’s sickness, and so on.

This was her 16^th crucifixion! If she was coming back to the painful ordeal, did it mean that real crucifixion had the curing power?

“My son had heart problems, he was often sick”, she confessed. “But after the crucifixion, the problem was gone! My son got better! He is 15 now, and he doesn’t have any problems. Now, my mother is sick, so I do it for her. Every time I get crucified, I experience a miracle!”

“How painful is crucifixion for you?”, I asked.

“It’s ok. Ok! I’m just a little bit hungry now”, she answered.

When you hear it like that, it doesn’t sound like a bad transaction at all. Securing your relatives’ health in exchange for nailing yourself and some temporary hunger? How does that deal sound to you?

God works in mysterious ways

Angelito Mengilio returned to the Good Friday cross for the 12^th time now. He was doing it for his mother, who had passed away.

Did it hurt, a natural question popped up again.

“This is a miracle!”, a woman standing next to him pulled the M-word as well. “He will heal in a matter of days!”

Ruben Enaje, with so many crucifixions behind his back, should have a history of miracles. And yet, every year, he found a new reason to sustain the pain.

In the early years, he was doing it to thank God for surviving the fall from the construction building. This year, he wished for good health for his family. And work. Did it help?

“Right now, on Monday, I start working. I got a job!”, Ruben explained the efficiency of his crucifixion rites, in the most straightforward way. He didn’t doubt that the intervention was divine.

Crucifixion sites in Pampanga 

It may be hard to find some of the crucifixion sites in Pampanga. You will thank me for the GPS locations of the main crucifixion sites in San Fernando, Pampanga, the Philippines:

San Pedro Cutud – 15°0'43.7'' N, 120°41'50.1'' E

Santa Lucia – 15°01'11.4'' N, 120°41'0.4'' E

San Juan – 15°01'20.3'' N, 120°40'37.1'' E

Crucifixion today, income tomorrow

San Fernando city mayor Edwin Santiago often referred to Maleldo Festival as a celebration that highlights Fernandino culture and heritage, but also gives “the chance to reflect on Christ’s saving action in our lives”.

The Cutud crucifixion festival definitely made Pampanga a tourist spot. While the Philippines’ tourism was mostly relying on a fascinating number and diversity of islands and beaches (for instance, check Coron Island!), there were more and more visitors who aligned their Philippines holidays with the San Fernando crucifixion.

Religious festivals could indeed become a reason to visit the Philippines. But how did Pampanga’s transformation into a tourist spot change the lives of the penitents? Are their awards always just miraculous ones?

“Crucifixion is voluntary. There is no compensation”, Ruben revealed. “In some places, they will pay the crucified. But here in San Pedro, it’s voluntary. I think that if I got paid, my wishes would not come true!”

In a T-shirt with the image of Che Guevara, the controversial figure that Ruben called his hero, this painter and construction worker preferred doing business with God than with the community that rubbed hands in the shadow of the cross he bore.

Hotels and buses were full. Souvenir whip sales were flourishing (50 pesos or 80 cents only!). At every corner, they were offering drinks and meals (even, oh blasphemy in the times of fasting, the roasted pig!). It did feel as if a circus had come to town!

Maleldo Festival between beliefs and superstitions

Filipino Easter crucifixion was embedded in folk beliefs that could be even called Holy Week superstitions.

Some Catholics in the Philippines went so far that, in fear of bad luck, they avoided taking a bath or doing laundry after 3 pm on Good Friday (the time of Christ’s death).

Children were discouraged from playing outside because, with the dead God, evil spirits could get them.

In the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, I’ve seen people rubbing the image of Christ on the cross, and then repeating the same rubbing on their own corresponding body parts.

After the devastating eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, many flagellants made vows to petition for the floods not to return.

The faith here was both literal and mysterious, grounded in reality, but hoping for miracles. And no Church condemnation would be able to stop the display of devotion, no matter how extreme or fanatical it got.

One Christian in Indonesia expressed his devotion by building - a Chicken Church!

The senseless act of sacrifice

In the barangay of Santa Lucia, at the artificial Golgotha erected just next to the basketball field, I witnessed probably the best-staged drama of the famous three.

One could criticize the pompous music or the fact that they decorated the stage with posters displaying images of Jesus’ crucifixion (which just needed to happen!).

The actors were still amateurs, but there was something powerful in this particular San Fernando passion play.

For a start, Melchor Mentoya as Jesus didn’t look 64, and the Mother of God did not look 18.

But far from just being believable, this Good Friday crucifixion was touching. The violence of the Roman soldiers was convincing. Hitting the woman who tried to help Jesus sounded too loud to be fake.

I have to admit that at the moment of crucifixion in Sta. Lucia, some tears did fill my eyes. It was the first moment when I felt that the essence of Christ’s story was revived.

The whole experience was utterly senseless. You see this person suffering in memory of Christ’s death. It didn’t make sense. Why did it need to happen? It was communicating the same senselessness as Christ’s own death on the cross. What did he die for?

What would Jesus do at the Cutud crucifixion festival?

Two millennia ago, Pontius Pilate asked the crowd if they wanted to release the notorious criminal Barabbas or Jesus Christ, and the mob chose to see the blood of the Messiah.

If they had had mobile phones in that era, I believe YouTube would be full of amateur videos recording the innocent death of Jesus, and competing for likes.

Have we evolved in mercy, or did evil win?

In 1984, a local priest tried to ban flagellation and crucifixion in San Pedro, Pampanga. He did not succeed.

If we accept the story of Jesus giving his life for us, why did we end up on the side of the historical losers?

What if, I ask you, Pontius Pilate in the reenactment of Christ’s passion decided one year that he wouldn’t allow the crucifixion of that man? Would it be a historical tragedy or a true celebration of Christian love?

Practical info for attending the Maleldo Festival in Pampanga

How to get to San Fernando, Pampanga

If you want to witness penitensya in the Philippines, the best solution is to go to where it all started!

The most convenient way to reach San Fernando in Pampanga from Manila is by taking a Victory Liner bus. One needs to ride to Olongapo via San Fernando. It is possible to leave from Pasay, Caloocan Cubao, and Sampaloc Terminal.

The schedules depend on the terminal, but usually, they start at 4 am, with every hour interval until 8 pm. You can buy your ticket on the spot; come at least one hour before the desired time of departure!

I went to San Fernando from Cubao Terminal, and the ticket cost me 111 pesos (2 Euros).

To get to Manila by flight, find the latest prices here!

Where to stay during Maleldo Festival

The hotels in San Fernando, Pampanga, could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Most of the visitors who traveled to witness the Maleldo Festival in Pampanga, usually stayed in the city of Angeles, 12 kilometers to the North. However, this involved commuting by jeepneys and tricycles in order to reach the villages where crucifixions were taking place.

I stayed in Casa Chico, an Airbnb property in Greenville, which was just 1,6 km from the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, or a 20-minute walk. It was also a stone’s throw away from the SM City Pampanga, where buses from Manila stopped. The tricycle ride to the sites of crucifixion was short, and they would typically charge me 100-120 pesos (less than 2 Euros).

Casa Chico had quite a few, simply furnished rooms with a shared bathroom and kitchen. As the owners operated a catering business that supplied local shops with food, it was also possible to eat a local-flavored meal for just 150 pesos (2,5 Euros only!). They call Pampanga the culinary capital of the Philippines for a reason, so definitely try traditional dishes!

The price of the stay at Casa Chico was 16 dollars per day. It might be basic accommodation, but staying there could be the most practical choice for anyone wanting to experience the crucifixion in Pampanga, at the controversial Maleldo Festival.

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If you are not easily disturbed, check the whole gallery of the Holy Week images from Pampanga’s Cutud crucifixion festival!

 

The Americans went crazy for the Super Wolf Blood Moon. The particular position of Earth between the Sun and the Moon made our satellite appear bloody red these days. The total lunar eclipse was not visible in Asia, but that didn’t stop millions from celebrating one of the most extreme Hindu festivals, always falling on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai. Well, technically, the Thaipusam Festival (or Thai Poosam) doesn’t have to be that radical! Its self-mutilating body practices are actually banned in India, as they believe that the body is the temple of the soul and therefore shouldn’t be harmed. However, visitors to Batu Caves and Penang in Malaysia continually celebrate this annual Hindu festival by engaging in dramatic body piercing rituals that usually produce no blood. This year, I followed a family of Hindu pilgrims to Batu Caves, to witness Muruga trance from the very proximity.

At Jor Soo Gong Naka Shrine in Phuket, devotees undergo extreme facial piercing. Check out Thailand's self-mutilation festival!

16 hours of barefoot march

This was not my first visit to this extraordinary Batu Caves festival! Thaipusam images from 2017 were still fresh in my mind, so I came somewhat prepared to Malaysia.

Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur was a starting point where the pilgrims gathered to follow Lord Murugan’s silver chariot to Batu Caves.

To enter the temple where they prepare the chariot decoration, one needed to take the shoes off. Remembering how quickly these streets filled with people, and how long it took me to find my shoes back in 2017, this time I was smarter. I packed my sneakers in the bag and brought them with me, inside the temple.

Concentrated in prayer and Paal Kudam preparation (filling the pilgrimage jugs with milk), everyone was slowly entering into the Thaipusam festival spirit. Bright-colored dresses, flowers in the hair, sacred powder on the forehead, and a selfie for the road!

Some were eating free food and drinking water distributed by the volunteers. One needed to save energy! It would take 16 hours for the slow chariot procession to reach Batu Caves. Many walked this route barefoot, in a true spirit of prayer and penance.

Hinduistic celebration in the country of Muslims

Two-thirds of the Malaysian population are Muslim. According to the last census, there were 1,8 million Hindus in the country (6,3 %). Estimations that 1,6 million people would visit Thaipusam 2019 at Batu Caves is very indicative. Thaipusam is not just another Malaysian public holiday. If we speak about the Hinduism in Malaysia, this is a must-visit event!

Body piercing rituals at the riverbank

On the banks of the Sungai Batu river at the base of the Batu Caves hill, people started to gather early on Thaipusam morning. Ritual cleaning of the body, prayer at the improvised altars, and loud groups of drummers moving around. They accompanied the pilgrims in reaching over the edge.

Men, women, and even children got their tongues and cheeks skewered. All the while, their family members encouraged them by yelling in unison: “Vel, vel! Vel, vel!”

Vel was a spear that Lord Murugan, the god of war, used to defeat the evil demon. In Muruga trance, these believers became warriors too, the invincible ones.

Many physically transformed. Their eyes rolled back, their tongue protruded, and their body twisted. The milky foam was leaking out of their mouth. Sprinkled by lime juice and flower petals, they fell into a state that seemed dramatic. Some were yelling like possessed, some were pounding their head with their hands, and some were jumping and dancing around, just occasionally being pulled back by their more present companions.

With spread legs, high chin, and a casual cigar or two in the corner of their mouth, some men flaunted like a peacock. That bird was Lord Murugan’s vehicle, and pilgrims would typically use its feathers to decorate the Kavadi. These portable altars are another way of showing devotion, as it is not an easy task to bring them up the 272 stairs to Batu Caves.

For more background on Thaipusam Festival, read the article Thaipusam’s Extreme Devotion: Piercing Yourself for Religion. 

Needle piercing through butter

There was a certain easiness when skewers pierced the cheeks of Govindarajoo family members. The long and sometimes thick spikes were penetrating their skin like butter. Supported by their family’s cheering voices, Prakash (24), his sister Vickneswary (27), their father Govindarajoo (53), and some friends of the family, surrendered to the penetrating pins. A teardrop leaving the corner of the eye showed the extremity of endurance their bodies went through, but their memory would not describe the pain. In the ecstasy of Muruga trance, there was no room for pain.

A teardrop showed the extremity of endurance of their bodies, but their memory would not describe the pain

Prakash additionally got the chains of his 40-kilos heavy Kavadi pierced and hooked for the skin of his back and chest. Some other pilgrims would pin flowers, bells, apples, oranges or limes on their dorsal surface. Some would attach ropes on the hooks and walk down the road while the holder of these reins would pull them back as if controlling the wild horse.

In the Philippines, believers engage in the extreme practice of crucifixion at Maleldo Festival. 

Thaipusam experience as a medical miracle

In one of the more extreme actions, a group of men held sabers in the air. A devotee stepped on them with his bare feet. I happened to be just in the middle of the action. While I tried to focus my camera on his soles from beneath, the blood was dripping everywhere. He would now walk all the way up to the cave temples, with his wounds exposed. Indeed, why these people don’t get infected?

Before he made the holes in nephew’s cheeks, the 60-year-old piercer Selvam disinfected the rod with lime juice and wiped the excess with newspaper. Prakash got to chew some lime as an anesthetic as well. After they pulled out the rod at Batu Caves, they stopped the drop of blood by rubbing some ash on it and covered it with a scarf.

I don’t know how the medicine would explain this risky exposure to infections, but it seemed that Thaipusam spirit overtook them. It was winning it all!

For video impressions from Thaipusam 2019, check this edit by Impressions Goh!

Thaipusam Festival accidents

For an event with so many sharp and dangerous objects in the streets, one would think that attending Thaipusam Festival has its risks. The friendly policemen stationed close to Batu Caves main entrance offered me a tangerine and told me they do not have much work concerning public safety. “Except for some alcohol intoxication, there are usually no major incidents”, they said. That very same night, an incident did happen. But, let’s see the chronology of Thaipusam accidents at Batu Caves:

In 2009, a limestone rock broke off from the roof of the Batu Caves and fell on the leg of a 16-year-old.

In 2016 procession to Batu Caves, a BMW ran over pilgrims on KL-Seremban Highway. The driver killed three and injured three more.

In 2019, 34 people were injured, and three cars were damaged in a firecracker accident. Instead of exploding in the air, they exploded on the road.

 

Thaipusam – a festival of family

Participating in this pilgrimage, especially if one is bearing a heavy Kavadi on his back, is a test of endurance. These bodies have gone through so much in the previous month/s, that the completion of the walk is rather fascinating.

“We were fasting for 48 days. Eating only once a day, only vegetarian food”, Prakash’s father explained the Thaipusam fasting procedure. He was participating in these rituals for 35 years now and claimed that rigorous preparations were a big part of the festival. “We do not celebrate Diwali, but Thaipusam we cannot skip!”

For their family, it is a moment of reunion. Thaipusam Festival connects family members, young and old, close and distant, in the practice of collective achievement.

Kavadi bearers cannot do it alone. They need support! They need the little cousin’s voice yelling the reassuring “Vel, vel!” into their ear, they need the mother’s hand to bring water to their lips, they need a helping push when climbing the steep stairs becomes unbearable, they need someone to carry a chair so they can rest at the middle of the path, they need someone to massage the tension out of their legs and back. This is not just Lord Murugan’s holiday! Thaipusam is a celebration of family, of togetherness.

Caves have been fascinating to people in Europe too. Learn how Slovenians believed they have dragons living in their mountains, until one day actual baby dragons were spewn out of Postojna Cave!

Hindu piercing festival as a tourism boost

Walking to Batu Caves meant getting lost in the crowds of people taking photographs, barbers shaving pilgrims’ heads, cooks luring the fasters’ noses with appetizing smells, and merchants selling anything from jewelry to fair ride tickets.

In comparison with the 2017 festival edition, I felt the presence of the Westerners multiplied. Armed with their phones and cameras, they were queuing to take pictures almost like paparazzi on some Hollywood red carpet.

Thaipusam tourism was clearly resting on the attraction created by extreme bodies. Some onlookers were genuinely shocked, some seemed somewhat fascinated. Thaipusam Festival might be hard to watch. But sometimes, it is even harder to turn your head away. A cure for someone, a curiosity for others.

Happy Thaipusam!

An extreme-piercing religious event in Thailand is also connected to vegetarianism. Learn everything you should know about the Phuket Vegetarian Festival food!

Thaipusam dates in recent and upcoming years

• 2020 – February 8th
• 2021 – January 28th (event at Batu Caves canceled due to the lockdown)
• 2022 – January 18th
• 2023 – February 4th
• 2024 – January 25th
• 2025 – February 11th
• 2026 – February 1st

What do you think about this kind of event? Have you attended anything similar? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Check out what the Thaipusam Festival 2019 looked like in images!

It is an old belief that the full moon makes people go crazy (therefore, the word ‘lunatics’ contains ‘luna,’ the Latin word for the moon)! Even if no transformational effect of the full moon on humans was ever scientifically proven, one still might argue that what some members of the Hindu community go through on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai (falling in January or February) is not a middle-of-the-road activity.

At Malaysian temples near Kuala Lumpur and George Town, over a million devotees will gather to honor Lord Murugan, the God of War. Many will shave their heads bald, some will get into the procession carrying pots of milk on their head, some will crush coconuts to submit to the Divine, some will walk with a heavy burden on their shoulders, and even pierce the skin of their torso, cheeks, or tongue. The expression of faith at the Thaipusam Festival can be quite dramatic!

For more information on this extraordinary Batu Caves festival, check our report from 2019 Thapusam piercing rituals.

Inflicting pain for God

“Some Kuala Lumpur friends find my practice crazy. They think it is ridiculous, and some say this is not the true way to express love to God because you don’t need to hurt yourself. Well, that is their opinion”, says Prakash J Govindarajoo, one of the participants in the procession. His cheeks and tongue pierced with spikes, while he carries a 32-kilo heavy Kavadi, decorated with peacock feathers and statues of Lord Murugan, are a striking sight. Prakash himself is barely 49 kilograms heavy!

He is not the only one carrying the Kavadi as a ceremonial sacrifice. These portable altars, usually made of wood and ornamented with objects such as peacock feathers, marigold blooms, palm shoots, and coconuts, can sometimes weigh as much as 100 kilos and be up to two meters tall! But if the first Kavadi-bearer Idumban could have brought two hills on his shoulders, what are 100 kilos in comparison?

At Thaipusam, one and a half million devotees climb 272 steps staircase to reach the Hindu shrines in the caves

Mythological roots of Thaipusam

When the Pusam star reaches its highest point in the month of Thai, Tamil Hindus around the world, in places such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Fiji, and Mauritius, congregate to commemorate the occasion when the Goddess Parvati presented a spear (Vel) to her son Lord Murugan. He would later use this gift to defeat the evil demon Soorapadman. According to the myth, Lord Murugan split the beast in two, but he escaped and transformed into a mango tree. Murugan cleft the tree as well, and the demon turned into a peacock and a rooster and attacked again. But Murugan tamed them with a single glance. He made the peacock his vehicle (Vahana) and the rooster his emblem. Another animal is often seen at Lord Murugan’s feet – a cobra, a symbol of courage, wisdom, and immortality.

Measuring 42,7 meters in height, Lord Murugan’s statue at the entrance to Batu Caves is the second-tallest statue of a Hindu deity in the world. Topped with 300 liters of gold paint, it attracts visitors, both pilgrims and tourists, throughout the year, naturally generating the greatest interest during Thaipusam. Devotees will climb 272 steps staircase to reach the complex of limestone caves, home to several Hindu shrines. The Cathedral Cave is the biggest one, with a 100-meter-high ceiling.

Many will join the procession, bringing offerings, such as a brass jug of milk carried on their head (Paal Kudam). They might be asking Lord Murugan, Shiva’s son, for help, or just fulfilling the vow. Climbing the steep staircase, even the small children can be seen, with milk trickling down their faces.

Christians have their own bloody ritual in the Philippines - the Holy Week crucifixion in Pampanga!

Pierced 11-year old

Prakash, the 22-year-old education planner and a student of English Studies in Kuala Lumpur, also joined the pilgrimage as a 6-year-old kid, carrying nothing but a pot of milk. His tongue was pierced for the first time when he was eleven. Wasn’t he afraid?

“I think I was afraid. I am even today, but when you know you have prayed properly, and when you are extremely in love at that point in time, you tend to lose consciousness. I don’t know how to explain this, but you don’t feel pain”, he explains. “My Dad has been carrying Kavadi for 33 years now, and I was used to seeing that. I insisted on carrying it myself. There was no force.”

As if the mere weight of Kavadi is not enough, some include long skewers that pierce the skin of the bearer’s torso. What looks like an excruciating pain in the tourists’ eyes disperses completely in the state of devotional trance. Supposedly, Kavadi bearers do not feel pain, their wounds do not bleed, and leave no permanent scars. Then again, only those who go through rigorous spiritual preparation can carry the Kavadi. This includes fasting on a vegetarian diet, refraining from alcohol, sexual abstinence, sleeping on the floor, bathing in cold water, and regular prayer in the period preceding the Thaipusam, up to 48 days.

Strict plant-based diet is important at another festival of extreme piercing - Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Learn all you should know about the vegetarian food in Phuket!

The power of the spear

I joined this event myself at Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur, where thousands of devotees gathered, to accompany the silver chariot of Lord Murugan in a march that takes 16 hours to reach Batu Caves. Huge crowds, inability to exit the swarm, hard time finding one’s shoes in front of the temple… Volunteers were distributing the water to the thirsty ones. Pilgrims joining the stream, many with Paal Kudams on their heads, chant the “Vel, Vel” mantra, the same one they will use to help the one bearing the Kavadi. Murugan’s spear has extraordinary power in defeating obstacles and personal doubts. For gratitude, he will accept the bearer’s burdens and suffering.

On the day of the festival at Batu Caves, the masses grow much bigger. The context is the religious one, but substantially it is a grand fair. The music blare, scents of all kinds of food, tattoos to make, altars to buy, but also Hello Kitty balloons. Carpets of human hair cover the streets, barbers have a lot to do. Many pilgrims will engage in the ritual of getting their heads shaved as an act of sacrifice, humility, and purification. Men and women, babies and old folks… Their shorn heads symbolize their devotion to Thaipusam. At the bank of the river nearby, many will pray, leave offerings to God, and take the ritual bath before heading to the temple. They are seeking the blessing for the procession. Some will get pierced with Vel instruments.

One Malaysian island hosts a very special celebration for Lord Murugan. Check out Thaipusam in Penang!

Hooks in the sacred man’s back

At one of the improvised “streets” between the stalls, a man is pulling chains attached to the hooks piercing his back, in a scene that reminds one of a horse pulling a carriage. At some moments, he will stop. The pilgrims will appreciate his level of holiness and accept his blessing. He will mark their foreheads with three different substances: the sacred ash called Vibhuti (comes from the sacred fire burnt in temples or at religious ceremonies, and is said to transmit energy and remind wearers of the transience of life), sandalwood powder known as Santhanam (believed to activate the third eye), and a smear of brilliant vermillion paste known as Kunkumam (a symbol of the Goddess Parvati).

I don’t know how to explain this, but you don’t feel painPrakash J Govindarajoo

At the foot of the mountain, five Kavadi bearers enter the Kavadi Attam (Kavadi dance). Under the umbrella of Kavadi, where the metal supporting ribs/spikes are penetrating their bodies, they twirl like dervishes. Lord Murugan will reward their physical burden and make their prayers come true.

Falling into and out of the Thaipusam trance

Prakash, the little fellow with the big load, is joining the same procession, from the river to the temple. Soon he will be climbing 272 stairs, in a journey that can take about one hour. He has a hard time speaking about the trance he falls into: “It is a rather difficult question. I am not sure how to answer. One should experience it.”

The experience leaves the onlookers dazzled. After entering the Cathedral Cave, the Kavadis will be taken off the bearer’s shoulders. Some can faint when exiting the trance. In front of the never-absent cameras of the sensation-hungry Westerners.

Thaipusam 2017 will leave a lot of garbage behind. Many offerings are piling up into the hills of trash and fruit. The macaque monkeys, who are usually operating in significant numbers at the Batu Caves staircase, hide away during Thaipusam. In the following days, however, they will engage in a scavenging feast.

Prakash will get back to work. Some local colleagues will think he is crazy, and some US friends will find his practice amazing. He will be back to a “normal” life. Sleeping in the bed and not praying too much. On his Instagram profile, he will write: “It is always sad to say goodbye, but we can’t wait for 31^st January 2018. Until then, goodbye to the holy side of me.”