Unified Thaipusam chariot plan hits a snag over procession

Rivalry: File photos of the golden chariot (left) and the silver chariot in Penang. A meeting between the two groups has ended in disagreement.

GEORGE TOWN: After six years of acrimony, this year’s Thaipusam festival in Penang on Jan 25 was supposed to be a unified one, with both the golden and silver chariot travelling together in a single procession.

But it may not happen after all.

It is learnt that a meeting between the Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) and the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple trustees has ended in disagreement.

The Nattukotai Chettiar wanted to revert to the days of pre-2017 when only their silver chariot was used in the procession but the PHEB, which owns the golden chariot, did not agree.

The Thaipusam procession in Penang began in 1856 and the silver chariot has been in use for about 120 years. The rival golden chariot was introduced in 2017 by then PHEB chairman and Penang deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy. PHEB and the chettiars have been at loggerheads since.

Nattukotai Chettiar Temple senior trustee Dr A. Narayanan said they brought up a proposal to have only the silver chariot for the festival procession but this was rejected by the board.

Narayanan said that since the board insisted on having the golden chariot in procession, the chettiars requested that they have the procession in the evening of Thaipusam eve instead of in the morning, which was also rejected.

“The golden chariot will be carrying only the ‘vel’ (spear) of Lord Murugan. They can do it with any vehicle,” said Narayanan.

Former PHEB executive director Datuk M. Ramachandran said before the golden chariot was rolled out in 2017, the vel was sometimes brought by taxi from the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Queen Street to the Balathandayuthapani Hilltop Temple three days before Thaipusam.

“It’s usually a low-key affair,” he said.

With Ramasamy out of the state administration – he was dropped as a candidate in the last elections – the new PHEB chairman R.S.N. Rayer had planned a joint chariot procession.

Rayer denied yesterday that there was a deadlock in the Thaipusam discussions.

“We are looking for a solution. There will be another meeting in early January,” he said.

The silver chariot, which carries the statue of Lord Murugan, leaves the “kovil veedu” in Penang Street around 6am on Thaipusam eve and used to reach the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple at around 10pm the same day.

Since 2017, both chariots have left the “Little India” area within an hour of each other causing a major gridlock along the procession route with each reaching its destination well past midnight.

For this year’s Thaipusam on Feb 4, the golden chariot left the Sri Maha Mariammam Temple in Lebuh Queen at about 6.30am, while the silver chariot left the “kovil veedu” in Lebuh Penang at about 7.50am.