Penang may cancel Thaipusam chariot procession amid Covid-19

 

The iconic dual-chariot procession, bearing the statue of Lord Murugan, during Thaipusam in Penang will most likely be cancelled next year due to Covid-19 to prevent mass gatherings.

The procession of the over 100-year-old silver chariot and the recent golden chariot is the highlight of the annual three-day Thaipusam celebration in the state.

Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) chair P Ramasamy said the state will have a series of meetings to discuss how to manage Thaipusam next year amid the pandemic.

“Our priority is the safety of all devotees as chariots are the ones that pull in the crowd. Once you have a chariot procession, the crowd will be very difficult to control. We do not want the Thaipusam gathering to spark off any new clusters,” he told Bernama during an interview in George Town.

Ramasamy, who is also the Penang deputy chief minister II said PHEB will responsibly and carefully decide in the public's interest.

“We have yet to decide whether to have the chariot procession or not on Thaipusam. I don't want to preempt anything... we will conduct a series of meetings and let the health experts decide,” he said.

He said more detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the Thaipusam celebration will be out on the first week of January after discussions with the Health Department, National Security Council, and the Royal Malaysia Police.

Ramasamy said if the authorities decided there should be no chariot procession, no panthals, and no kavadis, he hoped all devotees will abide by the decision.

“The people, when it comes to religious matters, might get very emotional but I just want to remind them to adhere to all the SOPs set by the authorities as it is for the interest of the larger public,” he said.

Hindu devotees celebrate Thaipusam on the full-moon day of the Tamil month of 'Thai'. Next year, that date falls on Jan 28.

Every year, thousands of devotees will follow the chariots on foot along a route of about 8km before they reach the Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani temple and Nattukkottai Chettiar temple along Jalan Kebun Bunga during the Thaipusam festival.

Meanwhile, Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani temple chair R Subramaniam said he believed the crowd during the upcoming festival will be smaller compared to previous years where more than 1.2 million Hindu devotees including international tourists joined the celebrations.

He said the people are aware that Covid-19 is still around and that they would put their health at risk if they failed to comply with the SOP.

“I think all devotees will understand that we cannot celebrate much and that they will most likely be allowed only to do their prayers at the temple,” he said.

Nevertheless, Subramaniam said the temple enforcement team had made simple preparations and were ready to control the crowd during Thaipusam.

It is commonly believed that Thaipusam is the birthday of Lord Murugan who received the divine vel (spear) from his mother Parvati and vanquished the evil demon Soorapadman.

- Bernama