Thaipoosam Cavadee

[wagerjunction]

Hi guys,

Yesterday was the Thaipoosam Cavadee in Mauritius.

This is a festival celebrated by the Tamil Community where the pilgrims fast for 10 days prior to the festival which culminates in prayers, offerings and more specifically building of Cavadees that will be carried by devotees who will have their flesh pierced by spikes.

You can check the following for more detailed explanations: http://www.mysterra.org/webmag/mauritius/cavadee.html

This is really a wondrous occasion which can be scary also to the non-initiated. I have attached some pictures so you can see what I mean.

[Kasinoportalen]

"There is not enough love and kindness in the world to give any of it away to imaginary beings."

F. Nietzsche


That is pretty much my take on religion. But the self torturing pictures are both fascinating and vile at the same time...

[wagerjunction]

"There is not enough love and kindness in the world to give any of it away to imaginary beings." F. Nietzsche

That's beautiful...

Yeah, indeed the images can be troubling. I myself do not agree with this "sacrifice" philosophy. But, well... we do have to respect others' beliefs.

I hope I did not offend anyone's sensibility by posting these. If so, I apologize.

[Kasinoportalen]

Not offended at all.

[davenewgates]

I can't argue if that's their take in their religion, we have to respect that. The photos are disturbing though.

[Renee]

The photos are quite disturbing..

Fasting on it's own sucks. I can't imagine having to go through this as well..

[wagerjunction]

The photos are quite disturbing..

Fasting on it's own sucks. I can't imagine having to go through this as well..

Depends on what you understand by fasting.

Usually for the Hindu/Tamil, etc communities fasting means refraining from animal derived stuff but they can still eat vegetables and such.

Imagine fasting like the muslims do... About 12 hours without food or even water for about a month.

[Renee]

Yeah I used to do the 40 day fasting for orthodox easter. It's basically a vegan diet for 40 days. It still killed me. I love meat too much. If I could have had the fasting with meat, it would have been fine.

I'd hate to do the full fast without food whatsoever. Now that would kill me.. Argh.

[Gabriel_LCP]

I agree! The photos are weird indeed! But that's the beauty of the World, all these different cultures!

Obviously nothing to the extreme right...

[wagerjunction]

Yeah I used to do the 40 day fasting for orthodox easter. It's basically a vegan diet for 40 days. It still killed me. I love meat too much. If I could have had the fasting with meat, it would have been fine.

I'd hate to do the full fast without food whatsoever. Now that would kill me.. Argh.

Fasting with meat, that's a cute one

The full fast without food is not that hard after a few days. It's only the lack of water that gets to you.