Thaipusam

I just watched Thaipusam, a fascinating and disturbing documentary by St. Paul filmmaker Nick Clarke. The film is an account of Thaipusam, a Hindu pilgrimage and atonement ceremony in Malaysia that commemorates the conquest of demons by the god Lord Murugan and his lance, Vel. The rite centers on what Wikipedia calls "various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens)." As the film graphically and toe-curlingly shows,

At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel [lances skewers is also common. The most spectacular practice is the vel kavadi, essentially a portable altar up to two meters tall, decorated with peacock feathers and attached to the devotee through 108 vels pierced into the skin on the chest and back.

All of this is pretty hard to watch, until you see the pilgrims' eyes, which show not pain or suffering but focus and devotion. And when they finally ascend the 272 steps to the holy cave where they will literally and figuratively shed their "kavadi," the relief is palpable even through the screen. The film concludes with the pilgrims' rather moving song:

On earth, we shall in happiness live;
In Heaven, we shall abide in peace;
Naught shall we lack...
May the good prosper,
The cattle thrive,
The rains descend...
All sorrows submerge;
May the name of God encircle this everlasting earth.

I'm not a believer, much less a Hindu, but the poem evokes that basic human desire for justice and peace that is paradoxically opposite to and identical with the suffering undergone by the pilgrims. If you get a chance to see the film, I recommend it. Just don't try to eat or drink while you do it.