Kavady Festival

A colleague invited me to attend the Kavady Festival at the Melrose Temple on Sunday. She lent me a bright orange sari and I fitted right in. A gentle old man I met in the street on the way down reminded me to remove my sandals once I enter the temple grounds. The passion and devotion was lovely to witness. There was much preparation and then the procession moved a short distance through the streets and back to the temple.

Thai Poosam Kavady is a Hindu religious festival dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Murugan that is celebrated by Tamil people in South Africa. Kavady translates in Tamil language as a pole slung across the shoulder to evenly distribute the weight of whatever is being carried, usually in bundles on either ends of the pole. The carrying of kavady symbolizes the carrying of one’s burden and then resting it at the feet of the Lord.