Temple chairman S. Nagiah, 60, said the organisers expect more than 8,000 Hindu devotees from Tapah and its surrounding areas to gather at the venue for the religious event tomorrow to pay homage to Lord Murugan.

He said in conjunction with Thaipusam, about 1,000 devotees will fulfill their vows by carrying ‘paal kudam’ (milk pot) or kavadi on foot from the Muniswarar Temple in Tapah Road to Sri Thandayuthapanni Temple, a distance of three kilometres.

“Devotees intending to fulfill their vows will cleanse themselves in a river near the temple before joining the procession that starts at 5.30am tomorrow.

“The kavadi procession will start at 10am before a prayer session for Lord Murugan at 1pm,” he said.

Thaipusam is celebrated by Hindus throughout the world during the 10th month in the Tamil calendar to commemorate the birth of Lord Murugan, the youngest son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

It is learnt paal kudam and kavadi bearers are required to observe vegetarian diet for between 12 and 48 days before fulfilling their vows.

According to Nagiah who had served the temple for more than 20 years, various Hindu religious activities had begun at the 94-year-old Sri Thandayuthapanni Temple since Jan 31, and tomorrow as well as Friday would be the climax of the celebrations.

“We will be parading the Lord Murugan idol in a five-metre high chariot winding from the temple to several areas around Tapah on Friday as a symbol of the deity visiting the devotees,” he said.

As a tradition, Nagiah said devotees would break coconuts along the route travelled by the chariot as offerings to the deity. – BERNAMA