Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 23, 2008A Hindu devotee wearing tiny jars of milk as piercings on his back makes his way to a temple in Batu Caves, just outside the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, for the annual Thaipusam festival.

Participants in the festival believe that pain will please the gods and is therefore a way to ward off evil or thank deities for recent good fortune. The trip to the temple is the culmination of months of fasting and abstinence that honors the goddess Pavarthi for giving her son an invincible lance to destroy demons.

Devotees adorn themselves with piercings, carry heavy objects, or shave their heads before climbing the temple's 272 steps as a form of penance.

Thaipusam is officially banned in India. But millions of ethnic Indian Hindus still celebrate in Malaysia, Singapore, and Mauritius, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. This year marks the first time that the festival has been recognized as a national holiday in Malaysia.

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