THAIPUSAM BLUNDER 1

A strange omen that unidid itself


Did you all know that moments before the main pooja started inside the Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Jalan Tun H.S.Lee , to send of the deities on the chariot journey, a dimwit photographer who was right in in front of the deity tipped over the main silver thirvathaney.

This multi-flame instrument is the first to be lighted and showed in front of the deity whe the curtain is draw and the pooja begins.

The fact is it went rolling (into piece) , oil spilt, thread all over the floor and the worst part is the pandarams put it together except for the top most part which went "missing".

Oh boy! How embarassing. Strangely there was a kind sould in that crow who picked up that silver head piece and returned it to complete the assembly of parts which formed that ornate intrument.

The disgusting however was that the pandaram chose to pick up the wicks which were scattered on the and reused it. I thought they would have better brains than that and I assumed that all things done in a temple sould be clean and pure and sacred if it was for the use of prayers and for poojas or deities whichever the case may be.

The Chinese photographer was terrified and apologised repeatedly and gained the strange looks of those cramming in front of the surging crowd.

What crossed my mind was that it was not a good omen. I may be superstitious but what happened 3 hours later during the chariot journey may shed some light on my initial premonition.

The pooja went on as usual with some crucial mantras left out.

This was past midnight on Jan 29, 2010.