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Better bring a waterproof camera if you want to be a part of some of these crazy fun holidays

There are many ways coffee is made around the world, and a surprising number of them involve socks.

AFAR sent writer Leslie Jamison to the Indian Ocean island nation with just 24 hours’ notice. Arriving with no preparation and no plan, she caught a ride to the war-torn north to find out what kind of traveler she truly is.

After a string of personal losses, a writer heads to Tamil Nadu seeking solace from her sorrows. It takes two temples, a palm leaf astrologer, and the driver of a velour-lined taxi to make her feel whole again.

Overview

Overview

Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple is a popular landmark in Little India, where much of Singapore’s sizable Tamil Hindu community works and worships. Originally a simple building on a plot of land, the temple became something entirely different in the mid-1960s with the addition of an elaborate five-layer gopura, or gatehouse tower. Each stepped level of the tower’s roof is crowded with vividly painted statues of royalty, dancers, and deities, as well as candy-colored architectural elements, all of which creates a remarkable celebratory effect. The temple has been granted protected status as a national monument by the government.

Above the charming chaos of the streets of Chennai, located on the roof top of the Park Hyatt lies the Antahpura Spa. From the dimly lit hallways and locally inspired Tamil-herbal essences and Chettinad therapies, you can all but forget about the city below. Out of it’s loft-style windows and from within it’s hot and cold plunge pools the breezes sway laundry of adjacent rooftops methodically while you slip in and out of steam and sauna rooms. Treatments are based on ancient Indian wellness remedies and massage therapists are strong and subtle in their approach. The spa is modern, impeccably clean and beautifully designed.

Landing in heat-soaked Kuala Lumpur after being on the road for 24 hours can be disorienting. Incessant chanting (“vei vel shakti vel”), monkeys screeching, wafting incense, a glorious moon, and a million people.


Thaipusam falls on a full moon and is the celebration in remembrance of Lord Murugan (his statue pictured at the base of the steep 272 steps to the Waterfall Temple at Batu Caves - the top being the best view) who received the “vel” (sacred spear) from his mother, Shiva’s wife, to kill three demons. Killing internal demons seems to be the order of the day for devotees.


The festivities begin with a chariot bearing the statue of Lord Murugan being drawn through the streets starting from Sri Maha Mariamman Temple and then on the second day (when I arrived), the fulfilling of the vows by devotees takes place at the Batu Caves after people walk barefoot approximately 15 kilometers starting in the middle of the night from Kuala Lumpur. The chariot returns to the Temple on the third day.


The real highlight is watching devotees with huge decorated frames (“kavadi”= burden”) supported by spikes that pierce their chests and backs as penance for answered prayers. As one devotee said to me, “Life is an act of gratitude and this is the ultimate day of gratitude to our deities.” I felt a deep empathy for the intense devotion and commitment of the Tamil Hindus I witnessed. This is truly one of the world’s great festivals of purification and atonement.

Known for being a bit boisterous and rowdy, Little India has a distinct personality from the rest of Singapore. It can start to feel a few degrees hotter than the rest of the city as you dodge shoppers, temple goers, and trinket sellers on Serangoon Road. The crowds and pungent smell of flowers, curries, and frying prata excite and assault the senses. The sidewalks are taken up by racks of DVDs, cases filled with phone cards, carts selling garlands of fresh flowers, and men working at sewing machines. It’s a uniquely South Asian crush of color and hum of activity. If you head there on a Sunday—the day most Indian and Bangladeshi construction workers have off—the streets might be even more crowded than usual.

Legend has it that centuries ago, the locals here had a vision of a tiger approaching the pond where the Pilikula Artisans Village is now located—hence the village’s name (Pilikula means “tiger’s pond”). While you won’t see a tiger at Pilikula Artisans Village, visitors can view live demonstrations of pottery, blacksmithing, weaving on looms, oil extraction and threshing and cleaning of rice using the traditional methods of the Tulu Nadu people. The village is part of a larger eco-tourism center spread across 150 hectares (371 acres) on the outskirts of Mangalore.