Feeding the faithful: A file pic of devotees enjoying lunch at the thaneer panthal at Jalan Datuk Keramat, George Town.
GEORGE TOWN: More than a century ago, when the Thaipusam festival first took root in Penang, wealthy businessman Gurusamy Chettiar decided he would help feed the hundreds who trekked from Little India in George Town to the Waterfall Hill temple to fulfil their vows.
He set up a roadside hut at Jalan Datuk Keramat where his family lived, offering food and drinks to those who passed by.
Now, more than 100 years later, his descendants are continuing with the tradition, offering free vegetarian food and drinks at festively decked thaneer panthals (refreshment stalls) during Thaipusam.
Retiree K. Selvaraju (pic) and his brothers have kept the tradition started by their great-grandfather alive by always setting up the Yennai Kambam (oil village) thaneer panthal in Jalan Datuk Keramat every Thaipusam.
The name of their thaneer panthal, “Chekku Gingelly Oil Village”, is a salute to a long-gone time when Penang island was an agricultural powerhouse that included the production of gingelly oil.
The gingelly oil “factory”, or chekku, was a warehouse where cows trudged round and round a mill, crushing sesame seed into the oil.
It has been shut down for years now.
Selvaraju, 74, a retired state Health Department employee, said Gurusamy, his maternal great-grandfather, constantly reminded his generations to uphold the tradition of putting up the thaneer panthal to aid pilgrims.
“Back then, there were few thaneer panthals and the kavadis were all spiked with spears piercing the bearers’ bodies.
“Our great-grandfather’s thaneer panthal was vital for pilgrims then,” he explained.
Selvaraju said he and his brothers Ganesan, 68, Rajakumar, 66, and sisters Lalithambal, 58, and Jamuna, 51, were born and brought up at the village, known to the locals as Kampung Minyak (oil village) and had watched how their grandfather and father served the faithful.
Rajakumar said that at first, they had served only to those who helped out on the chariot but later adopted the practice of anathanam (distribution of free food) to all devotees.
Since 55 years ago, they prepared benches and long tables where hundreds would stop for vegetarian meals served on banana leaves. Now, though, they used waxed paper.
“Some people who cannot finish their meals pack them up in the waxed paper to eat later,” he said, adding that the meals were cooked by family members and relatives.
“Most of those who lived here have grown up and moved away but each year they will all return for Thaipusam to help out.”
Thaipusam in Penang began in the early 1800s with the silver chariot being in use for about 120 years.
The golden chariot was added in 2017 by the Penang Hindu Endowment Board.
This year, Thaipusam falls on Thursday.
The golden chariot will leave the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Lebuh Queen at 5.30am on Wednesday while the silver chariot will leave Kovil Veedu in Lebuh Penang soon after.
