Hindus Gather in Kuala Lumpur for Annual Festival

On Thaipusam, Malaysian Hindu devotees would climb 272 steps up to the temple to make offerings to Lord Murugan. (VOA - Yong YN)

Every year, thousands of Hindu devotees of Tamil descent in Malaysia make a pilgrimage to Batu Caves temple on Thaipusam to make an offering to Lord Murugan, an important deity of the Hindu faith. Here, a disabled man pierces small milk pots onto his ches

Batu Caves temple in Kuala Lumpur, which is more than 100-years-old, is a popular tourist destination with a flight of steps, consisting of 272 steps leading toward a temple in the cave. On Thaipusam, some one million devotees and tourists go to Batu Cave

Devotees carry burdens, known as kavadis, as offerings of sacrifices to Lord Murugan. On the way to the temple, some devotees claim to be filled with the spirit of the deity and would dance as they journeyed to the temple. (VOA - Yong YN)

Devotees journeyed some 15 kilometres, usually at midnight, in order to arrive at the temple in the early morning to receive blessings from the priests.(VOA - Yong YN)

Traditionally, devotees would bathe by the river as part of a ritual of Thaipusam. However, in modern-day Thaipusam, devotees are provided shower heads instead. (VOA - Yong YN)

Body piercings are symbols of sacrifices that the devotees make on Thaipusam. It is believed that the more piercings one do to his body, the more reward will be given to him. (VOA - Yong YN)