Expected Numbers For Thaipusam Are Much Too High

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THERE are 2.75 million Malaysian Indians in the country with no more than two million are Hindus, with the rest Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others. A huge number of Malaysian Hindus join in the Thaipusam festivals held annually in Georgetown in Penang, and at Batu Caves in Selangor near the border with Kuala Lumpur.
Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman RSN Rayer was reported to have said recently “We anticipate welcoming 1.5 million Hindu devotees from across the country. Last year, the number reached one million visitors.
“People are not only travelling from across Malaysia but also from abroad, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and more.”
However, the same festival is also held simultaneously at Batu Caves, which attracted two million visitors last year and slightly more are expected for this year. If the expected numbers for Georgetown and Batu Caves are combined, they would total more than 3.5 million.
The figure appears overly optimistic, as mobilising all the Hindus in this country to gather at these two places would only amount to two million. Although Caucasians from overseas and local Chinese also carry kavadis and breaking of coconuts, their numbers are not large.
In any case, Malaysian Hindus deserve all the credit they can get for raising Thaipusam to a phenomenally high level.
While Thaipusam is primarily celebrated by the Tamil community in South India, particularly in honour of Lord Murugan, it is less important than Pongal over there.
While the streets of Penang are packed with devotees, onlooking local residents and visitors along the golden and silver chariot procession routes, the area around and into Batu Caves is a sea of humanity, with hundreds of thousands of people at any one time during Thaipusam.
It is likely the biggest crowd anyone can see anywhere, and lo and behold, the same people are likely to return every year, undeterred by the sun or rain, huge numbers of people tightly packed and converging in one direction, and shortage of washroom facility that can be extremely taxing.
But for die-hard tourists, Batu Caves during Thaipusam is a must visit to experience something extraordinary.
While some Hindu women may carry kavadis, large numbers of Hindu men shave their heads bald to participate in the festival. For all of them, it is a soul enriching experience. 
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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