Tongue Piercing With a Trishul

Tongue Piercing With a Trishul, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

This is ritual undertaken by women not just Hindu Tamils but other communities too..at Mahim Macchimar colony the Koli women get their tongues pierced too.

And mostly they cover their face with a hanky once they have pierced the tongue , they follow the procession from the beach to the Marriaman Temple in this case the temple at Nehru Nagar Juhu.

At the temple late in the night the rods from the cheeks the hooks from the back and the lime clusters hanging on needles from the arms and back are removed.

This feast is akin to Thaipussam of the Tamils of the Far East.

I have documented this feast at various venues of Mumbai and hopefully this year might pierce my cheeks with a 18 feet rod.. and for me it is not about religiosity but simply supporting my Tamil friends in their spirituality.