Kota Kinabalu: Policeman Thanaraj Thiagarajen observed 48 days of strict vegetarian diet and sleeping on a bare floor to prepare for his first Kavadi Attam during Thaipusam on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Johorean said walking barefoot for more than a kilometre from the Lok Kawi beach to the Sri Subramaniar temple early Sunday under the hot sun and sizzling tarmac came from an open heart.
Thanaraj, who has spent seven years in Sabah, said bearing the 20kg kavadi, a wooden structure with the Hindu God of War, Murugan, adorned with peacock feathers balanced on his shoulders was nothing compared to the fulfilment he received.