JUST last Friday, a stretch of road between Little India and Tank Road in Singapore came alive during the Thaipusam festival. The annual event saw a record number of 9000 devotees taking part and about 50,000 onlookers over the weekend.
The celebrations started the night before the actual day of the festival when devotees gathered at the Sri Srinivas Perumal Temple in Little India.
There, they said their prayers and had their bodies pierced, before starting on their 4km procession as an expression of gratitude to the Hindu deity, Lord Murugan.
The famed National Geographic photographer, Steve McCurry, likened being in India to having one's five senses assaulted. Well, I should say that observing the Thaipusam festival here in Singapore will likely give one a foretaste of what he meant.
When a fellow-photojournalist and I stepped into the temple, the atmosphere was electrifying.
We were attempting to document a family of 40 who have been practising Thaipusam since 1969. We saw how a family takes the time and effort to rigorously upkeep the tradition passed on to them and everyone in the family had a role to play from preparing the Kavadis to cooking.
In the centre of the picture is Mr Chandru Latchaman, 39, he is leading his family in prayers at the Sri Srinivas Perumal Temple along Serangoon Road. The prayer just prior to the Thaipusam procession is considered to be extremely important. This is the time when the devotees ask for blessings and safety during the journey.
PHOTO: Samuel He
So to do justice to the multi-sensory assault we experienced, we have put together an audio slideshow about this family's journey.
You can view the slideshow here.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: We have just started experimenting with the multimedia slideshow format so we are still feeling our way around. Do leave us a comment below!
Editor's note: Spelling of the Sri Srinivas Perumal Temple in the caption of the photo has been corrected.