GEORGE TOWN: When Pierre Torset arranged a four-day trip to Penang with his wife, he could not be more excited to have an opportunity of a lifetime to witness the colourful celebration of Thaipusam in the state.
As Thaipusam kickstarted, the 38-year-old French photographer was astounded by the colourful ambience and unique culture he spotted when he reached the Penang Waterfall Hill Temple this morning.
“We’ve only been here for half an hour and I would love to spend a couple more hours here just to take photos,” Torset told Bernama today.
Thousands of Hindu devotees, as well as local and foreign visitors, have taken the streets in Jalan Kebun Bunga, Jalan Waterfall and Jalan Utama to celebrate Thaipusam, and it was no surprise that everyone would pull out their cameras and gadgets to snap some pictures of the event.
The aesthetics of the temple structures, the colours of the costumes and accessories worn by the participants, as well as the diversity of people, were some of the contributing factors that makes Penang a hotspot for photography during Thaipusam.
Torset said that it was the rich and meaningful culture of Thaipusam that he found most interesting and exciting.
“I couldn’t decide whether it was the structures, the people, or their festival apparel because each of them are specials in their own way, but all of them equally conveyed the meaningful story about Thaipusam itself, and that’s what I find it most interesting,” he said.
On the other hand, Columbian photographer Alexander Lloyd said that he found the people attending the festival to be outstanding.
The 52-year-old explained that the people who attended and organised the event in Penang were different in comparison to Kuala Lumpur as he had had the chance to be there during the last Thaipusam as part of his task assigned by the media production organisation in Guangzhou, China.
“Back in Kuala Lumpur, I found that most devotees have a higher economic level and the event was well-organised by elite groups, which gave me the idea that they are more professionals. But here in Penang, the devotees seem like commoners and the event was organised by individuals, which makes me feel like they are friends and family” Lloyd said.
