BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA, April 17, 2016 (Latin America Herald Tribune): The size of the Hindu community in Indonesia’s northwest Aceh province is small, but Sunday devotees made a big impression with their Thaipusam festival. About 500 people from the Tamil community joined Thaipusam celebrations since Friday for the three-day festival, which culminated Sunday with a procession of singing, dancing and praying through the city of Banda Aceh.
For the previous two days, festival goers went to the local Hindu temple where they prayed, enjoyed fellowship, burned incense and made offerings to Hindu Gods. Thaipusam, celebrated by Tamil people in countries of South and Southeast Asia, commemorates the mythical occasion when the Goddess Parvati gave Murugan a spear to defeat the demon Soorapadman.
Until the devastating tsunami of December, 2004, the Hindu community had been larger in Aceh province, but the disaster, which destroyed the local Hindu temple, saw many of them move to Medan to start new lives. Only about 12 Hindu households, comprising less than 100 people, reportedly remain in Banda Aceh, and this weekend’s festival was only the third time the community has celebrated Thaipusam since their temple was rebuilt following the 2004 disaster.