Wednesday, January 17

The Kottekunnu Muruga Temple begins its kavadi festival today, and the first day features volunteers dangling from the front of a truck, held up by meathooks stuck into their backs below their shoulders. We have seen this before but Sanu suggested that the time had come to see it again.

So here we stand. The procession takes a long time to arrive. In fact it takes more than five hours to walk from the centre of Trivandrum to the temple. The men and boys who have pierced their cheeks walk the whole length in a trance while helpers get ready to catch them should they fall.

According to everything we have heard and read, the adherents feel no pain and the piercings and meathooks leave no scars.

On the last day, because nothing should be left undone, they will walk a long strip of fire.

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