Thaipusam 2012: Faith Penance & Endurance

At Batu Caves, preparations are underway for the grandest Hindu Festival of the year. Thaipusam is about faith, penance and endurance.

More than a million Hindu devotees are expected to congregate here, over the next few day.

5 days before Thaipusam, we follow a group of 50 devotees from the Sri Muniswarar Temple in Puchong, as they make their climb up the 272 steps, to reach the top of the hill where the temple is located.

High priest Vasantha, aged 50 is leading a group of devotees to fulfil their vows, and to seek forgiveness for their sins from Lord Murugan.

She has been doing this for the past 20 years, only this year, it is a bit different.

To avoid the heavy traffic, due to a long stretch of public holidays, she is starting early. And for many devotees , it is never too early to perform this pilgrimage.