Hindu organisation Malaysia HindhuDharma Maamandram (MDHM) aims to educate devotees and encourage them to celebrate Thaipusam in a proper way this year, through its project called Dharma Vel.

"We have had lots of complaints and negative feedback about devotees not practising the proper way (to mark Thaipusam) so we came up with this idea," MDHM secretary-general Rishi Kumar Vadivelu told Malaysiakini today.

MDHM wants to encourage devotees to carry the paal kudam (milk pot) the proper religious way and to restore Thaipusam as an auspicious Hindu event, he explained.

In previous years, Rishi lamented, many devotees did not follow the "right way" of observing Thaipusam, a Hindu religious ceremony dedicated to Lord Murugan, which falls on Jan 24 this year.

"Nowadays, there are many Hindus who are afraid to take the paal kudam . Others, because of their ignorance, are doing unnecessary things.

"We shouldn't blame the devotees, for nobody has told them what they're supposed to do. They think what they're doing is right.

"This is a process of education. We want our devotees to be more holistic," Rishi explained.

MDHM is not the only Hindu organisation behind this movement to restore the true meaning of Thaipusam, Rishi said, adding that they have the support of many major Hindu organisations in the country, along with Hindu priests.

"As a Hindu organisation in this country, we are doing our part to educate the devotees on the right way and we have also consulted the priests about this," he said.

They are urging devotees to join them at the Sri Bagavathi Amman Temple in Batu Caves on Thaipusam this year, he said, where they will provide the devotees with everything necessary for the procession, without charge, except for the pots and the milk.

150 volunteers to help devotees

There will be a briefing on Thaipusam, the kavadi and Lord Murugan at the temple, where priests will perform the prayers as well before the devotees start their walk to the Batu Caves temple.

Rishi said MDHM has recruited 150 volunteers to help escort the devotees up to the Batu Caves Sri Murugan Temple on that day, to ensure the safety and well-being of the devotees as well.

So far, he revealed, about 1,500 devotees have already have signed up to join them on Thaipusam day.

They will lead three separate processions, with 500 people each time, at 4am, 9am and at 3pm.

While this is the first year MDHM is organising Dharma Vel, Rishi said they plan to keep doing this every year, perhaps even expanding the service to other states such as Penang and Perak.

"We are encouraging any organisation that is interested to join us in this service. This is for the betterment of the Hindu community in Malaysia," he added.