People piercing their body with hooks, skewers and (vel) small lances during Thaipusam at Murugan Temples is a common sight. In the beginning people only used to pierce their tongue with a small vel - this was a means to meditate by keeping silent. The vel was used to create a forceful means for Mauna Vratam - remaining silent. In the beginning it was a simple innocent offering done by Muruga Devotees.But today in some instances, Lord Muruga devotees pull heavy chariots with hooks attached to their bodies - this is a very recent trend.
Such practices are not mentioned in Hindu Holy Scriptures. In Holy books, body is quite often mentioned as the temple in which Brahman resides. ‘Vel’ was presented to Lord Muruga by Mother Parvati to vanquish the demons and not to pierce his body. Even the stories associated with taking Kavadi has nothing to with body piercing.
But piercing cheeks and tongue with ‘vel’ is a common practice by devotees of Lord Muruga. In Most people perform such piercing to fulfill their wishes. They believe that Muruga will be easily pleased, if the degree of such antics are increased. Ignorance of the basic tenants of Hinduism is the reason behind such practices. People get nothing but mental satisfaction and body pain from such piercing.
But these practices have been taking place for thousands of years and several symbolisms have been attached to these practices.
Piercing of the tongue is done to stop the speech and thereby to concentrate fully on the Lord.
Another symbolism states that it is to show that the physical body is a ‘maya’ and ultimate aim is to merge with the Brahman. There are several other symbolisms.
Most devotees enter into a trance during the piercing mainly due to the excessive drumming and chanting. They claim that they experience no pain during piercing and even after the ritual.
Adi Shankaracharya speaks about rituals like this:
Rituals are like blankets that veil the truth. They are nets to trap our intellect, forcing us to confine our consciousness to the superficial values of the manifest world. The thinking of a person who believes exclusively in ritual practices becomes confined to this little world. Subtle thoughts of the mind and tender feelings of heart become outward oriented. Such a person begins to believe that everything can be accomplished with the help of rituals.
Related
12 comments:
this comment is regarding the body piercing for thaipusam.. for your smallest information its not for the personal satisfaction as stated.
there is a reason to it( there is where the story of idumbar comes in )
note: if you do not know fully pls not not write about it!! ok!!
Dear anonymous
Idumban (Idumbar) carried the two mountains and the Kavadi symbolizes the hills he bore. There is no mentioning of piercing in the authentic Palani Idumban – Murugan stories. (http://www.hindu-blog.com/2007/01/legend-behind-taking-kavadi-to-murugan.html) Please provide genuine scriptural reference to body piercing during Thaipusam so that I can rewrite the article.
I do not know if the scripture says anything about body piercings. However i find it quite insulting for you to put down the extreme faith and devotion of people to 'personal satisfaction'. To me this body is nothing but a vessel which transports our soul for this part of the journey of our life. I believe that everyone has their reasons for the body piercings so do not simply generalise it. Vitrivel Muruganakku!!! Take care and God Bless.
If you do not know, please do not comment on the practices. Every practice is cultural and natural with a yogic significance. Ignorance will destroy our culture, if we are not careful. Remember we do not even know how old these practices are and they have been successfully inherited till our times and lets keep it for our children and the future generation. The only comment I have to make is that the vel with high contents of silver, some copper and some gold, makes it a very good conductor of electricity. The very bright full Moon of Thaipoosam transmits yogic, celestial energy on the earth, lets call it spiritual electricity, picked up by the Vel and transmitted to the nervous system through the Vels that are pierced in the body to the mind. Lets stop here and let our children and future generation enjoy. It's too complicated for the simple mind and lets just follow the practices for the sake of preservation.
Thank you.
Gopala Krishna Murday
Truth is hard to digest. I read the comments here and feel that. Such practices are the product of not understanding the true meaning of scriptures.
I congratulate the author of the blog for standing by truth. And for publishing all the different views.
Thanks, Vidya
It is the faith that matters. To those who have no faith in GOD alone will question all these sacrifices done by the staunch devotees.
I would like to know if anyone can advise in the trance that people get at the kavadi festival.What is the significane of this and how does this come about?
Vetri Vel Murugan!
I have been carrying kavadi for the past 15 years and will be carrying till the rest of my life.I have pierced my body b4 but for the past 2 years,I have stopped piercing it.I dont find it is a must to inflict pain.The concept of kavadi is to carry on your shoulder with patience,remain silence(the kavadi bearer) and focus to Lord Muruga with love and devotion.That is good enough.Piercing started with the face just coz wanna remain silence but u also can remain silence without piercing.From the face,now it went the whole body which not neccessary at all.The Lord will accept if you bring the kanikays with love!When Lord Idumban carried the mountains,He did not pierced anything on His body.
I liked this article a lot...I have been seeing people pierce their body and pull heavy objects with the help of a hook attached to their body and always used to wonder if the scriptures said such a thing??? If God is our father, then He surely wouldn't want man to violate the body that He created so lovingly. Tku for the post and clarifying the reason for the piercings.
however, the piercing is still a person's own wish and my comment is not meant to hurt any sentiments, religious or otherwise.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=278363797416
I dissagree with most parts of the Article.it sounds negative.if u have pure faith in muruga nething is posible.
There are many kind of alternatives for receiving the natural energy to our energy like yoga & meditation are available in various organizations , we must ready to accept for these methods as alternatives as hurt less to body.
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated and will appear only after approval. If you like to contact me - hindublog@gmail.com.