A colourful Sembawang tradition that goes back to the days of the Naval Base, is the commemoration of the Hindu festival of Panguni Uthiram by the Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple. While much of the landscape through which the procession of kavadis that is associated with the festival has been altered by the move of the temple away from its original premises with its route not only changed, but also shortened over the years; it is good to see that it is celebrated with as much fervour as it was when my first encounters with it back in the 1980s.
A view through a kavadi at today’s Panguni Uthitam.
This route of the procession of this year’s festival, which is celebrated on the full moon of the month of Panguni, took devotees from the empty plot of land off Canberra Drive , down Canberra Lane and Canberra Link to the temple’s premises at Yishun Industrial Park A. More information on the festival and previous Panguni Uthiram celebrations can be found in several previous posts and at the temple’s website:
- A lesser known Hindu festival with a kavadi procession: Panguni Uthiram
- The sun rises on a Sembawang tradition
- The Silver Chariot returns
- History of Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple
A walk into the light. Devotees carrying milk pots along the procession route at sunrise.
The tent erected at the start point where preparations are made.
Sugarcane is used by couples who have prayed for the blessing of a baby to carry the baby along the route as an offering of gratitude.
More photographs from Panguni Uthiram 2014
The author also blogs on The Long and Winding Road.