Thimithi
Known as the fire-walking festival, Thimithi is the culmination of several religious rituals that re-enact some important and auspicious events from the Mahabharata. Thimithi signifies the victory of a war in the ancient Indian epic that took place between two royal families, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, with the latter emerging victorious. The festival is held on a Sunday before Diwali, and is part of a larger ceremony stretching over a two-and-a-halfmonth period.
The fire-walking festival is in honour of Draupati Amman, portrayed as someone who endures many misfortunes but holds on to Hindu principles and morality, or dharma. She walks over a bed of coals to prove her purity and emerges as a fresh flower. Similarly, present-day devotees walk over scorching hot coals as proof of their faith and a form of penance and thanksgiving in her honour.
The ceremony commences on the first Monday of the month of Aadi in the Tamil calendar, which corresponds to July or August in the Gregorian calendar. To mark the beginning, a huge flag with a picture of Lord Hanuman is hoisted within the premises of the temple. For the next two days, scenes from the Mahabharata are enacted. Following this tradition, a symbolic marriage ceremony between Draupadi and Arjuna is conducted.
Before the new moon of the next month Purattasi, in September and October, the Aravana puja is conducted to honour Arjuna’s son, Aravana, for sacrificing himself to the gods to ascertain the triumph of the Pandavas in the war. The devotees plant a trident beside the shrine of Aravana to commemorate the war that lasted for 18 days.
As the day of the fire-walking ceremony comes close, worshippers carry milk pots to the temple and perform Kumbiduthandam, which is signified by prostrating after every three steps. Angapirathatchanam, which means rolling around the complex of the temple, is also a common ritual among the male devotees. On the day of the main festival, the grand fire-walking ceremony takes place after the initial prayers and rituals. A fire pit, approximately three metres long, is dug within the premises of the sanctuary and nearby, the devotees dig a smaller pit into which milk is poured for the walkers to dip their feet in. The chief priest lights the fire with pieces of sandalwood, and the coal inside the pit starts burning. After the initial ceremonies and prayers, the priest ties a yellow string to all the people participating in the fire-walking ceremony.
The flames of the fire pit can rise up to four metres high, and it becomes difficult to even stand near it. Drums, conches, bells and cymbals fill the air with loud music. The tradition begins with the chief priest walking along the length of the pit with a pot filled with water, referred to as the karakattam, balanced on his head. He is followed by the male believers, each awaiting their turn to cleanse their souls. After the ceremony comes to an end, the fire is extinguished using water and milk.
Even though the festival reaches its crescendo with the fire-walking, Thimithi actually concludes two days later, during which the final chapter of the Mahabharata is recited and the triumph of the Pandavas is portrayed by hosting a crowning ceremony of the eldest Pandava, Yudhishthira. As the festival ends, the flag of Lord Hanuman is lowered.