Hindu worshippers in Asia celebrate the festival of Thaipusam with body piercing

More than one million Hindu devotees have flocked to a Malaysian cave temple to mark a colourful Hindu festival during which they pierce themselves with hooks and skewers

A devotee with metal nail sandals leaves Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple during the Thaipusam Festival procession in Singapore

Hindu devotees with their tongues pierced, take part in a procession as part of the Thaipusam festival in the southern Indian city of Kochi

See photo gallery at the Telegraph