Fire has always played a crucial role in human life, serving both positive purposes, such as providing warmth, light, and cooking food, and negative aspects, such as posing threats to lives and destroying buildings when uncontrolled. This dual nature has led many religions to revere fire, incorporating it into their rituals and worship practices. One such event is the Theemithi Festival, a Hindu religious ceremony held annually in Tamil Nadu, India, during the Tamil month of Aippasi, which falls between October and November. The festival involves participants walking over fire to purify themselves from sins and draw closer to the divine.
The Theemithi Festival is not confined to Tamil Nadu alone; it is celebrated in various parts of the world, including Fiji, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, and other regions of India. The festival’s roots trace back to the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, the heroine Draupadi, who was married to the five Pandava brothers, made a vow to wash her hair with the blood of the Kauravas, who had wronged her. After 13 years of war, the Pandavas defeated the Kauravas, and Draupadi fulfilled her vow by walking barefoot over burning coals to prove her purity. This act, known as Theemithi, has become a tradition to commemorate the epic tale.
In preparation for the festival, devotees adhere to a strict vegetarian diet and fast to cleanse themselves internally and externally. A week before the event, they participate in major prayer sessions to seek blessings and pray for safety during the festival. There is a belief that only those who are pure, like Draupadi, can walk on fire without injury. The ritual includes a practice called “Kampudothandam,” where participants roll on the temple floor for three laps, each 150 meters long. A flag depicting the deities Arjuna and Hanuman is raised to signal the start of the celebrations, followed by nightly readings from the Mahabharata until two days after the Theemithi ritual, culminating in the reading of the final chapter.
To honor the Pandavas’ victory, a silver chariot parade is held two days before Theemithi. On the eve of the festival, a fire pit, 2.7 meters long, is prepared, with a small pit at one end filled with cow’s milk. On Theemithi day, the fire pit burns to high temperatures. After initial prayers, all participants are tied with yellow threads and adorned with turmeric on their wrists. The temple’s chief priest is the first to walk across the fire, carrying a decorated vessel of holy water. Participants follow, walking over the coals to demonstrate their devotion to the deity believed to ward off evil spirits. They then cool their feet in the cow’s milk pit, which holds sacred significance in Hindu tradition. Priests line the pit to ensure no one falls. The festival concludes two days later with the reading of the Mahabharata’s final chapter and the lowering of the flag raised at the festival’s start.
Despite its long-standing tradition, Theemithi faces criticism in contemporary times. Many argue that such festivals should not be celebrated in modern India due to the numerous injuries reported, especially among children, during the fire-walking ritual in Tamil Nadu. Recent reports highlight injuries sustained by children who lost their balance while walking on burning coals, resulting in wounds beyond just their feet.
