MYSTICAL TEMPLE OF MALAYSIA

"A blind man, who used to live near the temple, had always lamented his deplorable condition. One day, the blind man heard a mysterious, raspy voice, instructing him to light oil lamps at the Kaliamman temple, and that his blindness would be cured. He earnestly followed this spiritual edict, and over time his blindness was completely cured."

The Sri Pathira Kaliamman is situated in the village of Sungai Pinang Kecil,Pulau Pangkor,Perak. It's an Indian (Hindu) temple. Some consider it remarkable that the temple is so close to the sea.

Around 150 years earlier, the Indians had come to Malaysia to work on rubber plantations. There were also Indians who had become fishermen and had started to fish. They constructed a temple for the goddess Kaliamman, who would shield them from the wild, unforeseeable, deadly waves of the sea. They had set down 'trisulam,' camphor, lime lamps, and flower offerings before they went to the sea. Typically, after a successful score, there was an animal sacrifice, which is no longer done.

The temple has now been restored and the faithful have installed a granite statue of Kaliamman under the neem tree (azadirachta indica). In the past, the picture was slightly closer to the ocean, so much so that during the Amavasai (New Moon) and Pournami (Full Moon) the sea breeze laid the silk sand of the ocean on the blessed feet of Kaliamman.

There are also lovely stories here, as with other temples. Once upon a time, there was a blind man who lived near the temple and was very weak. One day, the blind man heard a strange, raspy voice asking him to light the oil lamps in the Kaliamman Temple.

His blindness should have been restored. He went to the temple to light the oil lamps. After a while, his blindness had been fully healed. He performed a "kavadi" (spiritual dance) at Kaliamman during the annual Masi Magam Festival. He did it every year before he died.

Another tale tells us that the granite statue of Kaliamman had been stolen by robbers and thrown into the sea. A woman of faith dreamed of a stolen statue in the harbor. She said this in the temple, and she gave a detailed description of where the statue could be located. It was soon discovered and all the believers were happy and gave her a band.

Many believers have glittering dreams of this goddess. Some saw her sitting on a rock, combing her deep black hair in the bright moonlight of Pournami and Amavasai. Some have seen a different image of Kaliamman, in the form of a little girl with silver ankles running in and around the temple.

The most remarkable feature of this temple is that it overlooks both the sea and the east. Therefore, believers are endowed with the light of the sun and have the ability to wash away harmful light from the sea. In addition, the temple has a weight of 60 kilograms, which is 'trisulam' (trident) opposite the image of Kaliamman. It's made of "aimpon" (5 metals). It's about 2 meters long and has representations of the sun, the moon, 27 planets, 12 moon signs, and other sacred symbols.

The highlight of this temple is during Masi Magam, where the annual festival of the temple is celebrated with great enthusiasm, pomp and spiritual enthusiasm. During this annual festival, the deity is brought across the temple and taken to the shore to bathe in the waters of the shore before returning to the temple.

This festival is somewhat similar to the Thaipusam festival. The number of Chinese believers celebrating the festival is a striking feature of the Masi Magam. many of them bear kavadi (physical burdens such as penance: bows, arrows, needles. We see these cultural mixtures more often than not with Hindus in the Bay of Bengal.

The recent religious festival celebrated on March 7 and 8.2020 with huge number of crowds predominantly before the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to Covid-19 issue. However, according to reports no any cases were found in the gathering.

Author: Shobana Manokaran