Exploring Connected Histories Through the Spread of Body Piercing Festivals in Asia Nanda Azad Hind Gulshan* Global Ph.D. Research Scholar, School of Historical Studies, Nalanda University, Rajgir, Nalanda, India *Email id: azad.nanda.phd@nalandauniv.edu.in
Online Published on 04 May, 2023. Abstract This paper suggests a way to look at the connected histories of different regions through the spread of festivals. Based on this methodological approach, the study employs the widespread practice of body piercing observed in various parts of India, China and Southeast Asia to cast a fresh look at the connected histories of these regions. The paper analyses two different festivals viz. Thaipusam and Phuket Vegetarian festivals are celebrated locally by ethnic Indian and Chinese migrant communities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other pockets of southeast Asia. These festivals trace their origin in their native homeland of India and China, and were transmitted to Southeast Asia in the early nineteenth century CE. The Thaipusam festival is connected to Lord Murugan worship, and the Vegetarian festival relates to invoking nine emperor gods. While their origin originates in far-off lands, both festivals surprisingly share striking similarities such as self-mortifying rituals, spirit mediumship, astrological observance, a general procession of devotees, and the ‘bear ability’ of self-mortifying practitioners. This has led to the great assimilation and acceptance of both festivals among South Indian Tamil and Chinese Taoist ethnic diaspora communities located in parts of Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. The article concludes that there must have existed a complex network of cultural exchanges that fostered the spread of festivals in various parts of Asia and simultaneously represented the connected histories of those regions. Top Keywords Body piercing, Festivals, Rituals, Self-mortification, Thaipusam, Murugan. Top |