We were very fortunate to witness the Thaipusam festival while in Penang. A Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (around mid January to mid February).

I said mostly Tamil because we came across Westerners and local Chinese who followed the pilgrimage procession and participated in the offering of Kavadi.

The word Thaipusam is derived from the name of the month, Thai and Pusam, which refers to a start that is at its highest point during the festival.