The once blood-stained white and gold garment is a beautiful reminder of the strangers who helped her deliver her daughter five days ago in the back of her husband, Ismaidi’s pickup truck outside Batu Caves.

On Tuesday, Lidawati, 39, gave birth with the help of a few Thaipusam devotees, including Marie Puspan and her daughter Naroshini Annaselam, who used their garments to cover the windows of Ismaidi’s truck, protecting mother and child from the searing heat.

The account of the incident went viral, with social media users saying the devotees’ actions were reflective of the harmony and unity among Malaysia’s diverse people.

“I am holding on to the thundu used by the aunty and her daughter to help me deliver my baby,” Lidawati told FMT, saying she would never forget what happened that morning.

Lidawati and Ismaidi were on their way to a hospital in Gombak when she went into labour.

“My husband was panicking and driving fast. According to Waze, it would take us just five minutes to reach the hospital but the roads were so jammed that my husband had to stop the car (just outside the Sri Subramaniar Temple in Batu Caves).

“Then an Indian aunty and another lady knocked on our car window to ask if I was okay. I told them I was delivering a baby and they asked me to open the door. I did not want to disrupt their celebrations but they insisted and helped me deliver my baby,” she said.

Lidawati said she was touched that the ladies used their own garments to cover her, getting the items bloodied in the process.

“At that moment, I did not feel that we were of different faiths. They were happy after the baby was delivered. I was speechless.”

Ismaidi said he was thankful to everyone who helped him and his wife. He said he was touched by the devotees’ selflessness.

“This is our first daughter and her birth in our car was unexpected,” he said, adding the couple have yet to decide on a name for their five-day-old baby.