GEORGE TOWN: Indian temples everywhere were busy with “pooja” (prayers) and festive rites as Tamils welcomed the Chithirai Puthandu (Tamil New Year) and Sikhs greeted Vaisakhi, the birth of the Khalsa order.
Sikhs thronged the Gurdwara Temple at Jalan Gurdwara and Bayan Baru here celebrating Vaisakhi while at Waterfall’s Nattukotai Chettiar Temple, managing trustee Dr A. Narayanan said about 700 people gathered at the temple where special prayers were held to mark the Tamil New Year.
Narayanan said the celebration culminated in a special vegetarian lunch for devotees.
Chithirai is the first day of the Tamil calendar, when many Indian households hold prayers, celebrate with food, give gifts as well as visit homes and temples.
Construction company manager Krishnasamy Perumal, 56, was with his family, including four grandchildren, at the temple.
“This is the 20th year I am here with my family, a trip I have never missed although I live on the mainland. We believe that praying as a whole family is all the blessing a person ever needs.
“This is a day to observe and welcome the new year with fervour and we will be visiting two other temples in the evening,” added Krishnasamy.
In celebration: A visitor at the Chaiya Mangalaram Temple in Burmah Lane, George Town holding his daughter as she baths a Buddha statue with scented floral water during the Songkran festival. — Photo courtesy of KWONG WAH JIT POH
At the Wadda Gurdwara Sahib at Jalan Gurdwara, about 1,000 people joined in the Vaisakhi celebration which began on April 12.
“The Gurdwaras have agreed to have the celebration on different days and we will complete our celebration in the afternoon after the 48 hours of non-stop recital of hymns, while other temples will only complete the celebration on Sunday,” said Wadda Gurdwara Sahib president Santok Singh.
“Everyone was served with a vegetarian lunch and varieties of sweets made by temple members.”
Present were state local government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo and Indian High Commissioner counsellor Amrita Dash.
Malaysians also observed the Songkran festival yesterday and joined in the celebrations at the Chaiya Mangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple at Pulau Tikus, which began on Thursday.
