Malaysia's spectacular Thaipusam festival
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF57600000578-0-image-a-69_1422978549107.jpg>
 

Australian football fan and Hindu Carl Vadivella Belle receiving a tongue and 
cheek piercing during the Hindu Thaipusam festival in Malaysia

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF4E400000578-0-image-a-70_1422978549127.jpg>
 

Carl fasted for 48 days before the festival, and abstained from alcohol, meat, 
TV and sex. He even slept on a bare floor

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF4E800000578-0-image-a-71_1422978549138.jpg>
 

Carl is popular with locals, as he is the only white man who gets involved in 
the traditional kavadi dancing that comes as part of the ceremony
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF4F400000578-0-image-a-73_1422978549160.jpg>
 

 

 

 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF51800000578-2938125-image-m-99_1422983675692.jpg>
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF51D00000578-2938125-Carl_joins_the_priests_to_pray_before_the_ceremony_which_will_ge-a-100_1422983680682.jpg>
 
 

 

Carl joins the priests to pray before the ceremony, which will get him into a 
trance-like state before the piercing session

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF53400000578-0-image-a-78_1422978549203.jpg>
 

Everyone involved in the ceremony makes a special donation to the god Muruga, 
of inscensem fruits, coconuts and incense
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF53E00000578-0-image-a-79_1422978549211.jpg>
 

As he waits his turn to be pierced, Carl watches and holds onto the needle that 
priest will use to pierce his tongue and cheek
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF56500000578-0-image-a-82_1422978549237.jpg>
 

Carl and other onlookers watch another man involved in the ceremony, in a state 
of trance, with a huge metal bar going through his cheeks
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF57F00000578-0-image-a-83_1422978549246.jpg>
 

 

The moment Carl receives his piercing. He says he is not afraid of the pain 
that he will endure as part of the religious ceremony

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF58A00000578-0-image-a-84_1422978549254.jpg>
 

It is believed that after fasting, people getting pierced during the Thaipusam 
ceremony will not feel any pain.
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF59B00000578-2938125-image-a-101_1422985432661.jpg>
 
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF5B400000578-0-image-a-87_1422978549287.jpg>
 
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF62D00000578-0-image-a-93_1422978549338.jpg>
 
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF63800000578-0-image-a-94_1422978549346.jpg>
 
 

 Fun & Info @ Keralites.net 
<http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254DF5EA00000578-0-image-a-88_1422978549296.jpg>
 

Carl changed his name to Vadivella Belle in the 1980s, after his third kavadi 
procession, which he believes saved his mother-in-law from cancer


  _____  


 

 

 

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