Stirring Sai Seva In Malaysia
Stirring Sai Seva In Malaysia
Two Inspiring Accounts
Here are two accounts of seva carried out at mammoth gatherings of devotees at Lord Murugan’s shrines in Malaysia. It is heartwarming to learn how, in one instance, the Sai volunteers made every effort to help those unable to have Darshan, and in the other, break a Malaysian national record – read on to know more!
‘The spark of tears in their eyes gave me the happiness of a lifetime, not because I have achieved something great but to remind me to be more grateful to God for having an able body.’
This was the moving comment from a volunteer who had helped physically and/or mentally challenged pilgrims have Darshan of Lord Murugan during the festival of Thaipusam, at a hill top temple in Malaysia.
Thaipusam is celebrated on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). Pusam refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates both the birthday of Lord Murugan, the youngest son of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati, and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (lance) so he could vanquish the demon Soorapadam.
In Malaysia, Thaipusam attracts mammoth numbers of devotees. Over 1,000,000 people congregate at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur and 200,000 at the Waterfall Temple, Penang . Heart2Heart is pleased to inform you about the wonderful seva carried out by the Malaysian Sai devotees at these two sites during the festival period from 10th-11th February, 2006 .
The Waterfall Temple is located at the top of a steep hill. Many devotees make their way there to worship Lord Murugan and to climb up is part of the ritual and penance. But the Sai devotees of Brown Garden Centre, Penang, became concerned for those people who are unable to climb up due to physical disabilities. They are forced to remain frustrated at the bottom, while their relatives go up to the top to receive the blessings on this holy day. It was indeed a sight to pity.
Emboldened by the teachings of Lord Sai to help those in need, they formed themselves into special palanquin teams to convey the yearning physically challenged pilgrims to have Darshan of Lord Murugan.
This seva activity was aptly called ‘Journey to God’ and it became so for both the sevaks and the disabled people. The palanquins were handmade by the Sai volunteers themselves and each was carried by 4 devotees with one man to oversee the safety of the disabled devotee and to make way through the crowds up the steps.
Upon reaching the bottom of the hill the disabled pilgrims were given food by the lady volunteers. Then, to invoke Swami’s blessings before commencing the climb the volunteers chanted Ganapati Prarthana, Ganapati Atharva Shirsha Upanishad, Narayana Upanishad, Sai Gayatri and performed Arthi to Swami’s picture. Then, they began the ascent and reached the temple after one hour.
