Thousands of Hindu devotees subjected themselves to painful and sometimes gruesome rituals for a major south Indian festival.

Attendees in Chennai, Karnataka, practised various gruesome forms of flagellations, such as piercing themselves with hooks, skewers and small lances in honour of the Thaipusam festival on February 8.

Other forms of devotion included marching on hot coals, or some wearing ornate structures called kavadis that pierced their tongues, cheeks and backs.

These rituals are believed to cleanse people of their sins, and devout believers observe abstinence and fasting during the period of the festival.

Thousands of Hindu devotees subjected themselves to painful rituals such as piercing themselves with hooks, skewers and small lances in honor of the Thaipusam festival.The colorful celebration is the culmination of a period of both abstinence and fasting, and is observed as a day of thanksgiving and paying penance. Hindus believe they are cleansed of all sins and their misdeeds can be redeemed by observing these strict rituals and prayers during Thaipusam. Some devotees carrying heavy ornate structures called kavadis as they walk barefoot, while others have their tongues, cheeks and backs pierced.