Indonesia's annual Pangguni Uthiram festival, sees Hindus piercing their cheeks and backs with metal hooks and rods as they worship the god muruga.

Footage recorded on APRIL 10 2023, in LUBUK PAKAM CITY, Deliserdang, northern Sumatra Indonesia shows several local residents being stabbed in the cheeks with long metal rods and multiple hooks attached to their backs.

Priest Matha Riswan said: "Today we are celebrating Pangguni Uthiram Puja, for the god Muruga where Hindus, especially Hindu Tamils, believe that this Pangguni month occurs on Pournami or full moon, which was a ritual in ancient India that we have preserved to this day. .

"We are still carrying it out, but we are trying to simplify these activities in order to maintain togetherness without reducing religious values."