Brave Hindu faithful showed their devotion at the Panguni Uthiram Festival by piercing their bodies and hanging themselves from cranes in Kalapet, near Puducherry, India on 18 March.

The festival is celebrated annually during the full moon of the Tamil month of Panguni.

On the day of Panguni Uthiram, thousands of devotees throng at the temples of Lord Muruga.

Devotees walk over several miles on foot as a mark of their devotion to Lord Muruga, with many of them seen carrying milk pots and a decorative arrangement called a Kavadi on their shoulders, with objects to be offered at the temple on their heads.

During the festival, thousands of devotees pierce their bodies with needles and spikes as a mark of penance and in hope their wishes will be fulfilled.

Some of them then hang themselves from cranes and other objects, but still appear not to show signs of serious pain.

The festival has been compared to a similar display of body mortification in Puket, Thailand, called The Vegetarian Festival.

Panguni Uthiram festival is celebrated annually during the full moon of the Tamil month of Panguni.On the day of Panguni Uthiram, thousands of devotees throng at the temples of Lord Muruga. Devotees walk over several miles on foot as a mark of their devotion to Lord Muruga with many of them seen carrying milk pots and a set up called Kavadi on their shoulders and heads carrying some objects to be offered at the temple.

During the festival, thousands of Hindu devotees pierce their bodies with numerous needles and spikes as a mark of penance for their wishes to be fulfilled. The devotees show no signs of pain as they converged at the temples. The body piercing, hooking, hanging from cranes are similar to the vegetarian festival in Thailand.