Category

Photo Blog

Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia

Craig Ferguson 17 February 2010 6 comments

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). The festival celebrates the birth of Murugan,the youngest son of Shiva and his wife Parvati. The festival at Batu Caves, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia culminates in a 272 step climb into the cave.

Woman in a trance pierced with a small lance (vel) during Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. The vel symbolises meditating by keeping silent.

Woman in a trance pierced with a small lance (vel) during Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. The vel symbolises meditating by keeping silent.

Head shaving at Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. Many pilgrims prepare for the day by cleansing, fasting and abstinence before having their head shaved.

Head shaving at Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. Many pilgrims prepare for the day by cleansing, fasting and abstinence before having their head shaved.

An infant has a haircut.

An infant has a haircut.

Showering at Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. Many pilgrims prepare for the day by cleansing, fasting and abstinence before gathering at the river for a final wash.

Showering at Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. Many pilgrims prepare for the day by cleansing, fasting and abstinence before gathering at the river for a final wash.

Climbing the 272 steps up to Batu Caves for Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia.

Climbing the 272 steps up to Batu Caves for Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia.

Hooks are used to attach heavy objects to the pilgrims body before the ascent to the caves.

Hooks are used to attach heavy objects to the pilgrims body before the ascent to the caves.

Hooks are used to attach heavy objects to the pilgrims body before the ascent to the caves.

Hooks are used to attach heavy objects to the pilgrims body before the ascent to the caves.

Crowds of pilgrims head up the 272 steps into the cave.

Crowds of pilgrims head up the 272 steps into the cave.

Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson

Photographer Craig Ferguson is an award winning photographer from Australia who has been traveling and living in Asia since 1997. Craig’s work has appeared publications such as Asian Geographic, Abitare, Lonely Planet, l’espresso, Taipei Times, Unearthing Asia, Verve and many more as well as online at National Geographic, the Huffington Post and neworleans.com. Corporate and commercial clients include Corel Corporation, Straight Music House, EVA Air, the American Chamber of Commerce (Taipei) and Giraffe Language Schools. Craig is also the founder of Taipei Photo School, the Light Your World workshops and leader of the Taipei edition of Worldwide Photowalk. He hosts monthly photowalks in various locations around Taipei that are open to all. A further initiative is the new Twitter-based photographer mentoring service Togmentor.

6 Comments For This Post

  1. Aor Pichayanee Aor Pichayanee Says:
    February 17th, 2010 at 2:30 PM

    I like photo blogs. They make me “see” the variety of different unique livings and cultures represented by different angles of the photographers. And of course, for things I have never seen. I look forward to seeing more photo blogs in here. I really enjoy them. Thanks, Craig for sharing this. You’ve been here in Asia for more than 10 years, where in Asia do you enjoy most? Would you to follow you on twitter to update your new coming up interesting photos :)

  2. Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson Says:
    February 17th, 2010 at 4:57 PM

    Thanks for the comment. I’m not sure where I like the most in terms of traveling – different places for different reasons. My wife is from Taiwan and that’s where we live, so I should say there. :) You’re welcome to follow me on Twitter – I’m @cfimages.

  3. RJtravels RJtravels Says:
    February 18th, 2010 at 6:50 AM

    Amazing shots Craig!

  4. ggberry ggberry Says:
    February 18th, 2010 at 4:49 PM

    Follow your blog from T+L main page (travelandleisureasia.com). Seems like a few people RT about your post on twitter. Do you have Flickr account?

  5. Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson Says:
    February 18th, 2010 at 5:15 PM

    Thanks all.

    On Flickr I’m also cfimages.

1 Trackbacks For This Post

  1. Записки на манжетах » » Малайзия из Таиланда и обратно.Часть 2. Пещеры Бату. Says:
    June 6th, 2010 at 9:07 PM

    [...] С 1892 года в пещере началось проведение тамильского фестиваля – Таипусам. (посмотреть фотографии с этого праздника) [...]

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Sign In

Amy Ma

Food & Drink + Hong Kong

Amy is a regular contributor to the South China Morning Post and Wall Street Journal amongst other publications. [...]

Pua Mench

Hong Kong

Pua is a writing and traveling enthusiast based in Hong Kong, with a weakness for all things related to the culinary arts and healing modalities, and a passion for sustainable living. [...]

Kim Inglis

Wellness Spa

Kim has been an editor and journalist for over 20 years, more than half of which has been spent in Asia. [...]

Nellie Huang

Travel Adventures + Singapore

Nellie has been published in Food & Travel magazine and Lifestyle, and is a contributing author of V!VA's Guatemala Guidebook. She writes to travel, and travels to write. [...]

Sarah Jane Evans

Travel Adventures + Borneo

She has published travel articles in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia in publications including: Vacations and Travel magazine... [...]

Carrie Kellenberger

Photo Blog + Taiwan

She has traveled throughout Asia, finding work as a writer, editor, educator, voice over artist, photographer, and nightclub singer. [...]

Mark Lean

Kuala Lumpur

From writing about music, Mark expanded his focus to design, fashion, food and travel. In recent years, he has explored the highs and lows of Asia. [...]

Joel Quenby

Entertainment + Asia News

Joel is a British writer and journalist who's lived, worked and traveled in Southeast Asia since 2002. He's filed yarns for numerous publications...[...]

Alex Gunn

Chiang Mai

After several diverse careers as a circus performer, school teacher, psychotherapist, stunt pilot and university lecturer he can now be found poking about far flung markets, museums, restaurants and odd places in and around Chiang Mai.. [...]