Category: George Town / Island

Penang Isle: Thaipusam Festival Scenes

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For these devotees, they were pulling the large chariot for the Hindu goddess Kali via ropes which were hooked to the back of their bodies.

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Piercing is very common for the devotees.

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For some, it was a family affair.

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Ropes with hooks attached at the back of the devotees.

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Devotees usually prepare for the celebration by cleansing themselves through prayer and fasting approximately 48 days before Thaipusam.

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During this day, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). In Penang, the pilgrimage’s common destination is the Waterfall Hill Temple.

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Hindus generally take a vow to offer a kavadi to a deity or god for the purpose of tiding over or averting a great calamity.

More scenes can be found HERE.

Thaipusam in Penang

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Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community annually. In Malaysia, many Hindu devotees generally will flock to the Batu Caves in Selangor or the Waterfall Temple in Penang to celebrate this festival. One of the main highlights of the festival is the kavadi being carried by devotees seeking help from the God Murugan (as shown in the picture above).

Penang Isle: Loh Si Tong Chong Seah (Loh Clan Association)

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The Loh Clan Association building is located along Logan Road, opposite the Loh Guah Lye Specialist Centre. It houses a restaurant named Tianyi Restaurant with a banquet hall normally used for weddings.

Penang Street Art (Prison Break)

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This steel rod sculpture located at a building at Acheen Street, depicts a rope being tied to the window presumably by someone trying to escape from the building. The building was used to be a prison before it was later converted to a warehouse.
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Penang Isle: Wesley Methodist Church

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The Wesley Methodist Church in Penang, located at the junction of Larut Road and Burma Road, is the oldest Methodist Church in Malaysia.
The English architecture style Church building was built in 1911 and its cornerstone was laid on 26 December the same year. The land on Anson and Burma Roads was exchanged for Larut Road, where the Church was to be built.
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The Church was dedicated by Bishop W.P. Eveland on in memory of Bishop James M. FitzGerald, who presided over the 15th Session of the Malaysia Conference meeting in Penang in 1907, and who died in Hong Kong later in the same year and also in memory of his daughter, Miss Cornelia FitzGerald, who died in Penang in 1907 too.

For more info, please visit the Church’s official website at www.wesleypenang.org.