Body Rituals and Vel Worship in Sri Lanka with Paul King Featuring the Kataragama Festival
Join internationally known body modification scholar and practitioner Paul King on this remarkable exploration of the culture and spiritual traditions of Sri Lanka.
Kataragama is one of the holiest towns in Sri Lanka, held sacred by Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. The god Kataragama is believed by Tamil Hindus to be another form of Skanda or Murugan, a son of Shiva, while Sri Lankan Buddhists view him as a protector of their religion and the island itself. He is often depicted by a spear, or vel, which is said to embody his power or energy. As a result, Skanda is sometimes called the God of War, but he more subtly represents the Triumph of Good Over Evil.
Photo: Paul King
Our visit to Sri Lanka is timed to coincide with the annual festival that commemorates the life and mythology of Kataragama or Skanda.The festival attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the country, yet is rarely visited by foreigners. On a spiritual level, the festival is known for the extreme acts of self-sacrificial devotion or penance practiced by individual devotees.Worshippers pierce their cheeks, arms, legs or backs with hooks or skewers as a sign of devotion to Skanda.Hook swinging, fire walking, walking on nails, and rolling the body over hot sand is also practiced. As we explore the festival's events, our expert guide, Paul King, will share his extensive knowledge of vel worship, the practice of trance, and the history self-sacrificial body rituals in Sri Lanka, India and Southeast Asia.
Our 12 day/11 night tour will also incorporate many of Sri Lanka's traditional sights and sounds. Our comprehensive yet compact itinerary includes visits to the Dambulla Buddhist cave temples, Sigiriya or Lion Rock, and the ancient city of Polonnaruwa. We will also visit the city of Kandy, which is a center of Sinhalese arts and culture, and the highlands and tea plantations of Nuwara Eliya. We will further visit the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage and two national parks - Horton Plains and Yala.
About Paul King
Paul King is co-founder and owner of Cold Steel America, a well known provider of tattooing and piercing services in San Francisco, California. He also serves as Treasurer of the Association of Professional Piercers (the “APP”), the premier international organization responsible for the dissemination of body piercing education, health and safety information. Paul began his career in body piercing in 1991. He apprenticed under Elayne Angel, author of The Piercing Bible and the current President of the APP. Paul has worked at all three locations of Gauntlet, the first body piercing studio in the U.S., including serving as store manager for its studios in Los Angeles and New York City. He has personally trained dozens of piercers during his career. In 1996, industry-legend Jim Ward, the founder of Gauntlet, awarded Paul the honorary title of Master Piercer.
Paul is an avid traveler and cultural anthropology maven, and regularly lectures on the art and history of body modification and body rituals.Topics have included: Modalities of Communicating with the Body;The Thai Pusam Festival;The Phuket Vegetarian Festival;Ascetic Practices of Hindu Tamil Festivals of Sri Lanka (Vel, Kataragama and Esala Perahera); The History of Western Piercing from the 1890’s through the 1990’s, The History of Tattooing;Ritual Modification (a survey of ritual modification practices around the world, such as tattooing, piercing, bloodletting, flagellation and cranial modification); Suspension of Belief (a comparison of flesh hook suspension practices among Tamil Hindus versus non-Tamil cultures), and Sexuality and Body Piercing.
Paul has lectured at San Francisco State University, Academy of Art University and Skyline College, as well as at numerous body modification conferences around the world.Paul is also very active in piercing-related health education, and has lectured for U.C. Berkeley’s Sexual Health Education Program (SHEP).His articles on the art and history of body piercing regularly appear in The Point, the quarterly journal of the APP.Please visit the APP’s website, www.safepiercing.org, to read these articles and view information about his documentary film, Rituals of Life: The Phuket Vegetarian Festival.
In 2007, Paul received the President’s Award from the APP for his contributions to the worldwide body piercing industry.
Body Rituals and Vel Worship in Sri Lanka with Paul King 12 Days/11 Nights July 2012 and 2013 Maximum group size: 16 people
