Thaipusam

Thaipusam

                                                               source: google image

                                                               source: google image

                                                             source: google image

source: google image

Thaipusam or Thaipoosam, also known as a festival celebrated by the Tamil and Malayali communities on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai(January/February), usually coinciding with Pushya star, known as Poosam in Tamil and Pooyam in Malayalam. It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,Mauritius, Singapore,South Africa, Canada and other places where ethnic Hindu Tamils reside as a part of the local Indian diaspora population such as Réunion, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and the other parts of the Caribbean.

It is a national holiday in many countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius. In certain states of Malaysia and in the nations of Sri Lanka and Mauritius it is a government and a bank holiday.[citation needed] In Singapore, it was previously a national holiday but was removed from the official list of national holidays.[citation needed]

The word Thaipusam is a combination of the name of the month, Thai, and the name of a star, Pusam. This particular star is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a Vel "spear" so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman. It is commonly believed that Thaipusam marks Murugan's birthday; Some other sources suggest that Vaikhasi Vishakam, which falls in the Vaikhasi month (May/June), is Murugan's birthday.