A stay in Melaka during the final procession organized by the Chetti community for their annual festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mariamman, would probably make any visitor fall in love with Melaka. Early in the morning, hundreds of devotees – Hindus, but also non-Hindus, including many local Chinese – gather in Harmony Street, in front of the Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple. The atmosphere is intense. Accompanied by the beat of drums, many devotees enter a trance state. Several of them will pierce their bodies, including their tongues and cheeks, with hooks and skewers. They are fulfilling their vows to Mariamman. Dressed in yellow clothes, many others carry golden pots on their heads, adorned with neem leaves and filled with milk, which will be used for abishegam (from the Tamil apiṭēkam, the ritual bathing of the deity). Neem has a special link with Mariamman, who is believed to cure skin diseases. Among Melakans, the festival is known as Datuk Chachar (cacar is ‘smallpox’ in Malay). Participants wait to follow a 200-year-old colourful wooden chariot carrying a statue of the goddess. Once the procession leaves the temple, devotees will usually march along Jonker Street and Heeren Street. Several pull small chariots with ribbons attached to their backs with hooks. A few even walk upon nail slippers. Along the way, others wait for the chariot, to which they will give their offerings, smashing coconuts, representing the shattering of the human ego.