Thaipoosam Kavadi celebrated with fervour by Hindus of Seychelles |10 February 2017

Thaipoosam Kavadi was celebrated yesterday with fervour by the Hindus of Seychelles.

Some 500 devotees, locals and tourists took part in this popular annual Hindu festival organised by the Seychelles Hindu Kovil Sangam (SHKS).

Early yesterday morning many devotees gathered at the Navasakthi Vinayagar temple on Quincy Street, Victoria to start preparing themselves for the big procession. Children, women and adult men all were part of the celebration and all wearing a yellow outfit. Prayers were recited to the accompaniment of the vivid traditional music.

T.V Naganathan Chettiar, acting chairman of SHKS, said that “this festival is one of the most important ones for the Hindus. The motive of Thaipoosam Kavadi festival is to pray to God to receive his grace so that bad traits are destroyed. We have to have a period of fasting before the festival. Many Indians, locals and tourists usually join the festival. We are grateful that the government allowed the Hindus to take this day off to venerate our Lord Murugan and also to all the authorities for making it possible to have such a procession”.

Around 10.15am, the procession left the temple and wound its way through Revolution Avenue, Harrison Street, Lodge Street and back to Quincy Street. The city centre was full of colours with the various kavadis carried by some twenty male devotees with spikes pierced through their bodies, milk pots carried by some fifty women and small kavadis carried by children. All the devotees were intoning ‘Vel Vel Muruga, Vetrivel Muruga, Arohara’  which means he/she is sending a humble message to God Almighty - Lord Murugan - the Bearer of the 'vetrivel' (victorious spear) - to grant refuge from all unpleasantness in life.

At the end of the procession, all devotees and friends gathered at the back of the temple for a common lunch.

Thaipoosam Kavadi is a hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.

The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati (Shiva’s wife) gave Murugan a Vel (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

The accompanying photos show highlights of the procession.