WATERFALL Hilltop Temple chairman Datuk R. Subramaniam puts health and safety of the devotees as the utmost priority for the upcoming Thaipusam celebration.
Subramaniam said the temple is making the necessary preparation to ensure that the festival is celebrated in a safe manner as the country is still facing serious Covid-19 challenges.
“The Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily and his team visited the Waterfall Hilltop this morning and they were happy with our preparations for the festival.
“As for our temple, there will be two designated lanes for devotees.One is for the ‘paal kudam’ (milk pot) bearers and another for other devotees.
“Ultimately, what we want is to make sure that our devotees are safe after taking part in the religious activities during Thaipusam,” Subramaniam told the Buletin Mutiara team today.
Subramaniam added that the temple is still waiting for the official announcement from the National Security Council (NSC) on the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the festival.
“We will be disinfecting the temple every 30 minutes which will make the waiting period for the devotees longer. Thus, I request the elderly and those with health issues to stay at home.
“We will not be serving any food in the temple premises but instead it will be distributed outside the temple compound,” he added.
On the Golden Chariot, Subramaniam said the chariot will depart from the Queen Street Mariamman Temple on Thaipusam eve which is on Jan 17 at 6am.
“We have been given the approval from the NSC to have a maximum limit of registered 1,000 devotees to follow the chariot.
“But we are thinking of limiting it to a smaller number than that,” said Subramaniam.
The Golden Chariot will be making five stops, namely Kamachi Amman Temple in Datuk Keramat, Amman Temple in Lorong Kulit, Muniswarar Temple in Gotlieb Road, Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Waterfall Road and is expected to reach its final stop at the Waterfall Hilltop Temple by 12pm.
It was reported earlier that other traditional activities such as bearing of kavadis, food donation (anadhanam), coconut breaking and head shaving ceremony will not be allowed.
The setting up of ‘thanner panthals’ and the stalls for the petty traders is also not allowed.
For the ‘paal kudam’ activity, only those who are above 18 years old and fully vaccinated are allowed to perform it.
The devotees carrying ‘paal kudam’ are required to begin their pilgrimage at the designated start point which is at the Youth Park car park area.
They will need to register themselves by scanning the QR code which will be provided to them.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Buletin Mutiara & Courtesy of Waterfall Hilltop Temple