Watch Out For Traffic Due To Thaipusam Festivities
The Thaipusam festivities are now taking place in Singapore and there have been road diversions and closures as a result. Public festivities will end on 22 January so please be aware of the traffic that might build up during peak traffic, especially within the city area along Bras Basah Road near Rendezvous Hotel, towards the direction of Suntec City. Avoid these areas if you are driving, but otherwise head down there to check out the Thaipusam festivities and observe the incredible acts of faith the devotees put on, including spearing different parts of their bodies, walking on beds of spikes and fire stones, without so much as a wince.
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon of the Thai Hindu month, and devotees are to observe a day of fasting, thanksgiving and consecration where they make offerings to Lord Muruga. What draws in interested observers outside of the Hindu faith are the spectacular shows of faith by devotees who have to walk a three kilometre path of worship and thanksgiving. What you can see (partly in the picture here) are participants who carry huge decorations called kavadis which has a milk pots within. And these kavadis are often hooked onto the participants’ bodies, which can look extremely painful to the observer but devotees are known to experience no pain at all, due to their faith and belief, and this spectacle culminates on Thaipusam.
Police are on-site to redirect traffic where necessary and to maintain order as massive crowds are normally expected during the Thaipusam festivities. I had to drive by the same road this morning and while there was a slowdown, traffic was relatively smooth, even compared to normal peak hour conditions when there are no festivities. Perhaps the Land Transport Authority could look at this as an alternative to setting up ERP gantries.
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