Many people especially those who are non-Hinduism wonder why this celebration being called Thaipusam. It is a Hindu festival that mostly celebrated by the Tamil community. Tamil is one of the 4 major communities in South India besides Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada.
The community of Tamil celebrates this event on the full moon of Tamil month and being called “Thai” whereas “Pusam” refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. This festival is celebrated and commemorates both the birthday of Lord Murugan, the youngest son of Shiva and Parvati and also the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a Lance (“Vel” in Tamil) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.
