Agni Keli
Celebrated in April
Agni Keli is surely one of the most bizarre festivals in Asia. An eightday-long event held every April in Mangalore, Karnataka, it features an all- out fire brawl where participants fling flaming branches straight at each other!
Performed in the Kateel Durga Parameshwari Temple, the festival begins one night before Mesha Sankramana Day and features various themed performances – including the Agni Keli ritual. On the second night, a number of devotees gather near the Durga temple where they indulge in the tradition that involves getting hit by palm fronds.
These participants, almost all male, are devotees of Durga, the Hindu goddess of war. After ritually bathing in the river, the idol of Goddess Durga is decorated in a grand manner before the
Agni Keli ritual begins. Participants then gather in two groups about 20 metres apart, clad only in orange lungi (sarongs) – if they wore more clothing, there would be more danger of it catching fire. Each group picks up burning palm branches which they then fling at their opponents, aiming to score direct hits on as many people as possible.
It looks like a genuine battle – the branches flying through the night sky, sparks falling around the participants, who pick up more branches and throw again, the neat line of men breaking up into chaos. But there are festival rules (see below) administered by white-clad referees on hand who treat injuries with kumkumarchane, or holy water, and stop any individuals being too seriously targeted.
“Burning palm branches are flung, and contestants aim to score direct hits on as many people as possible.”