Dedicated to the Hindu goddess Drowpathy, their annual barefooted walk through a sacred pit of hot ash has been held in the Bangalore’s Cantonment area for the past 38 years. The organisers, men of Tamil descent, are proud that their festival has grown into its present form. This year 500 devotees crossed the pit of burning ash and the organisers estimate that 50,000 spectators looked on. Theirs is the modern version of a tradition that can be traced back as far as 500 years in Bangalore.
Exciting and vividly colourful, accompanied by frenzied drum beats and music, the Sri Drowpathy Fire Walking Festival is an unforgettably thrilling event. It is the apogee of a festival which lasts 48 days. On the forty-sixth day the participants don yellow clothing and smear tumeric paste on their faces. Some of the men go as far as to shave their beards and moustaches in honour of their goddess.
The roots of the festival can be traced back to the Mahabharata and Drowpathy’s birth. She was born in fire to safeguard dharma (truth and well-being). The festival is symbolic of her rebirth and the purification of her devotees.
Firewalking and the Leidenfrost Effect
The pit that the participants walk through is 23 feet long, and cut one-and-a-half feet into the ground - the biggest fire pit in Asia – but burns to the feet of devotees are surprisingly rare. Though sceptics might find it hard to believe, there are no tricks or applications of ointments to prevent burns. Nor do the devotees dip their feet into water before they enter the pit of burning ash. Rationalists argue that a scientific phenomenon, the Leidenfrost Effect, prevents burning. They reason that water acts as an insulator and protects the skin of the fire walkers, in the same manner that people do not burn their fingers when they extinguish the flame of a candle with wetted fingers. Seeing, though, is believing. The participants rely on faith alone.
Many of the fire walkers pray ahead of their turn to cross the pit. Some joke with their neighbours as they queue. Others looked plain concerned and their faces seem contorted with concern ahead of their dash over the ashes.
Belief is the Key to not Burning
The secretary of the festival’s organising committee, Mr M. Rajendra Naidu, says, “Some people do get burned, but praying is important. If everything is right, pukka, nothing will happen. If you do no harm to others nothing will happen. We pray to god, nothing will happen.”
The lives of the committee members, the festival’s central participants, alter for the duration of the festival. Devotion to Drowpathy becomes a central feature of their lives. They tie a tumeric band onto their wrists at the start of the festival and it stays for the duration. The men avoid contact with women, sleep in the temple and eat only specially prepared vegetarian food. They also attend regular Mahabharata discourses.
The Character of the Karaga
One man is nominated to take the role of the Karaga, the main character of the festival, and can be identified by his huge headdress, which is decorated with strings of jasmine flowers. In addition to being the first person to cross the pit of hot ash, the Karaga travels round the Cantonment area blessing Drowpathy devotees on the 43rd day of the festival.
The Karaga has a ten man bodyguard. Before devotees are permitted cross the pit, the Karaga and his bodyguard watch the hot ashes for signs that Drowpathy has entered the fire. When movement among the ashes is spotted then firewalking may begin.
The committee members say that a remarkable event occurs in the Drowpathy temple when the goddess enters the fire. Without human intervention, an upright sword - which has been stored with its tip embedded in a clay vessel – falls down.
Firewalking With Sacks of Lemons
The devotees pass through the pit of burning ash in the wake of the Karaga. Depending upon their size, the firewalkers carry bundles of either 51 or 101 lemons in sacks on their abdomens. Having passed through the fire, the lemons are regarded to have been purified and to hold a holy spirit. The fruit is subsequently given to people who are ill, childless women and unmarried women. The aim is to foster recovery, fertility and marriage.
A small number of the devotees pass through the fire wearing exquisite sarees, some of which cost as much as 15,000 rupees ($320).
After the devotees have passed through the ashes, the pit is doused with water and spectators have the chance to pass through the tepid pit.
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