WHILE the Hindus are celebrating ‘Ponggal’ a.ka. ‘Harvest festival’ today, the preparation towards another auspicious event, Thaipusam (falls on Jan 21), is all geared up.
Deputy Chief Minister II Prof P. Ramasamy, who is the chairman of the Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB), made some announcements pertaining to the routes and the new Golden Chariot.
“Golden Chariot, which is the official chariot of the PHEB as well as the Penang government, is bigger and grander now.
“This new Golden Chariot, which was donated to us, will be used for Thaipusam procession. The old one will stay put at the Waterfall Hilltop Temple and will be used there.
“The chariot will be pulled by devotees and also using the ‘tug-machine’.
“We are against animal cruelty, thus we have stopped using bulls in our temples in Penang as well as in Butterworth.
“I urge all the temples in Penang and Malaysia as a whole not to use bulls to pull the chariots. If you feel that, bulls are needed for some symbolic reasons, then let them just follow the chariot without being burdened with heavy objects on it,” Ramasamy told the media today.
This year, there is a slight change in the Golden Chariot procession’s route on the way back from Waterfall Hilltop Temple to Queen Street, where it will be seen taking a diversion from Campbell street to Chulia Street.
“We will not be covering the entire of Campbell Street, the chariot will go through Chulia Street and from there we will be entering Little India.
“This time we will be covering almost all the areas in the Little India unlike in the past and this is due to the request by the traders there,” said PHEB executive director M. Ramachandran.
According to Ramasamy, the proceeds from the Thaipusam (collections from chariot procession) will be given back to the community in terms of medical and education assistance.
“As what we have done in the past two years, the collections will be entirely given out to those students who are not financially sound as well as in a form of medical assistance to the poor,” added Ramasamy.
The Golden Chariot will depart from Queen Street and head towards the Waterfall Hilltop Temple on Jan 20 at 6am. (From Queen Street through Chulia Street, Victoria Street, Prangin Road, Magazine Road, Jalan Datuk Kramat, Jalan Utama, Jalan Kebun Bunga and reach Waterfall Hilltop Temple )
The return journey will be on Jan 22 at 5pm from Waterfall Hilltop Temple through Lorong Air Terjun, Jalan Gottlieb, Jalan Air Rajah, Jalan Macalister, Jalan Anson, Jalan Burma, Jalan Transfer, Jalan Sri Bahari, Jalan Penang, Campbell Street, Cintra Street, Chulia Street, Pitt Street, Bishop Street, Penang Street, Chulia Street, King Street, China Street, Beach Street, Market Street and back to Queen Street.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix Noor Siti Nabilah Norazis