GEORGE TOWN: Against all odds, Penang’s Thaipusam chariot took off early this morning, continuing an unbroken tradition for the past 164 years, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Despite a firm “no” to the chariot procession this year by the Penang government, citing health concerns, the chariot’s owners, the Chettiars, sought intervention from the federal government to allow it to be held.
“It was due to the efforts of (MIC deputy president) M Saravanan that we got this procession approved. God bless him,” A Narayanan, senior trustee of Nattukottai Chettiars, told FMT.
Earlier, the Penang Hindu Endowment Board had accused the Chettiars of wavering in their stance, as they had agreed that the chariot procession would be suspended this year, but made an about-turn after a similar procession was allowed from Kuala Lumpur to Batu Caves.
The trustees had organised the Thaipusam chariot procession for 164 years – 127 years involving the Silver Chariot, and 37 years the wooden chariot donated by the Chettiar Temple in Medan, Indonesia.
The Silver Chariot left the Kovil Veedu at Penang Street at 3.30am, towed by two bulls, to the Waterfall temple. The route was much shorter than the previous 6.6km journey, passing through Hutton Lane and Macalister Road instead of Jalan Dato Keramat.
The chariot was scheduled to arrive at about 6am, in contrast to more than five hours in the past when thousands of devotees lined its path to offer prayers.
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The only time the chariot stopped was to change the bulls, with herders on standby every few hundred metres.
Only 10 people, mostly temple officials, were allowed to accompany the chariot – forming two lines on each side – while a priest was seated next to the statue of Lord Murugan.
Police personnel on motorcycles joined a convoy of five cars behind the chariot. One of the cars was driven by a Tenaga Nasional Berhad staff, to keep an eye on the chariot as it passed under power cables.
Police told several devotees who had parked their cars to watch the procession after the news had gone viral on social media, to go home. After a warning of a RM1,000 fine for violating MCO rules, most of them left.
Missing were the usual urumi drum troupe, the barefooted devotees with milk pots, the kavadi bearers, and the smashing of coconuts along the chariot’s journey.
The chariot will return to Penang Street on Friday.- FMT