Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mainly by Tamil devotees on the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai, which falls in January/Febuary. Devotees prepare themselves by fasting and praying, and on the day of the festival carry a kavadi (burden) the length of the route. Some carry pots of milk upon their heads, but the most spectacular are the "vel kavadis" ...metal frames decorated with peacock feathers and attached to the wearer by hooks through their skin. Very colourful, but not for the sqeamish !