Bengaluru Firewalking Festival

Stuart Forster reports on the Sri Drowpathy Amman Fire Walking Festival, the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India.

There has to be some sort of trick to firewalking? Surely people don’t really walk across hot ash wearing no protection on their feet? Fittingly, given the subject, those were the burning questions that I was looking to have answered as I walked through Bengaluru’s Cantonment district towards the annual Sri Drowpathy Amman Fire Walking Festival.

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The contagious joy expressed at Indian festivals, vivid colours and their propensity to provide fascinating insights into cultural traditions means I’ve become something of a festival junkie while living in South Asia. On hearing that the Sri Drowpathy Amman Fire Walking Festival is Asia’s biggest firewalking event, I jumped in the next available rickshaw to the city centre.

Men prepare temple decorations ahead of the annual Sri Drowpathy Amman Fire Walking Festival in Bengaluru, India
Men prepare temple decorations ahead of the annual Sri Drowpathy Amman Fire Walking Festival in Bengaluru, India.

Firewalking in Bengaluru

Interestingly, this firewalking festival, in its current incarnation, has only been around for four decades. Yet it draws upon a 500-year-old tradition. People of Tamil descent, devotees of the Hindu goddess Draupadi, brought the firewalking festival with them as they settled in Bengaluru. Many Tamils moved here in the nineteenth century as servants of officers in the British Indian Army. Even today the lilting tones of Tamil are widely heard in the historic Cantonment district.

The secretary of the festival’s organising committee, M. Rajendra Naidu, welcomed me into their headquarters close to the Sri Devi Padavettamman Temple. Internationally, Bangalore is renowned for its hi-tech, high rise offices and the call centres out at Whitefield. But here in the heart of the Cantonment cows with painted horns still potter about on the streets with open-fronted shops. Save for men in dhotis (cotton wraps) playing with their mobile phones it’s easy to imagine that little has changed here since the British left, back in 1947.

Banners for the annual Sri Drowpathy Ammam Fire Walking Festival by a Hindu temple in Bengaluru, India
Banners for the annual Sri Drowpathy Ammam Fire Walking Festival by a Hindu temple in Bengaluru, India.

The origins of firewalking

Mr Naidu explained the symbolic roots of the Bengalurur firewalking festival can be traced back to the Mahabharata and the story of Draupadi’s birth. She was born into fire to safeguard dharma (truth and well-being) so the festival is symbolic of her rebirth, and the firewalking a purification of her devotees.

The festival, in total, lasts 48 days but the actual fire walking takes place only on the 46th day.

For committed devotees, Draupadi is the central figure in their lives for the duration of the festival. They eat only vegetarian food and the men sleep in the temple, avoiding contact with women. Some shave their moustaches and beards in honour of Draupadi’s femininity, donning saris and wearing make up during the firewalk, so that they resemble and represent the goddess. Mahabharata discourses are held, which the devotees attend.

A man shows off the bangles he wears for the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India
A man shows off the bangles he wears for the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India.

Walking barefoot on hot ash

Remarkably, 500 men and women choose to walk across the 23 foot long pit of hot ash to show their devotion to Draupadi. I went with Mr Naidu to take a look at the 18-inch deep pit of ash being raked and prepared in the run-up to the festival. The heat from the glowing embers made it clear to me that if there was some kind of trick to walking across the ash without injury, it certainly wasn’t because the pit of ash was cool.

Inevitably, I asked is fire walking dangerous? Sceptical, I couldn’t help suspecting that there was some kind of trick to walking barefoot on hot ash. Surely there was a rational explanation for firewalking?

Prior to setting out, I’d read that some firewalkers dip their feet in water before walking across hot embers. The Leidenfrost Effect, which most people have experienced while extinguishing the flame of a candle between wetted thumb and forefinger, thus prevents burning.

Others, I’d heard, apply ointments to protect their skin. Mr Naidu smiled patiently as I asked if that happened here, he’d heard such doubts before. No, he was adamant, none of those shenanigans went on here.

Garlands hang on a picture of the Hindu goddess Draupadi (Drowpathy) in Bengaluru, India
Garlands hang on a picture of the Hindu goddess Draupadi (Drowpathy) in Bengaluru, India.

The secret of firewalking

The secret to getting across the pit safely was, he assured me, faith. “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,” said Mr Naidu.

A crowd of 50,000 onlookers gathered to watch the participants walk across the hot ash. Anywhere else in the world, I’d suspect that some of those might harbour an element of Schadenfreude and secretly hope to see a bit of suffering. But this is India. In an effort to dispel my scepticism, Mr Naidu invited me to watch proceedings from within the secure area, right by the side of the pit.

Woman walking on hot ash during the Sri Drowpathy Amman Firewalking Festival in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India
Woman walking on hot ash during the Sri Drowpathy Amman Firewalking Festival in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India.

An Indian religious festival

A choir of women in saris sang devotional songs. Participants in yellow clothing and smeared with turmeric paste looked nervous as they waited to walk across the pit of ash. A couple of the men wore heavy silk wedding saris, in honour of Draupadi, the other firewalkers had sacks of lemons tied around their waists.

Mr Naidu explained that, depending upon the size of the participant, the firewalkers would carry a bundle of either 51 or 101 lemons. Having passed through the fire, the lemons are regarded as purified and deemed to hold a holy spirit. The fruit is subsequently given to people who are ill, or to childless or unmarried women. The aim is to foster recovery, fertility and marriage.

Face of a smiling woman wearing a yellow sari on the way to the firewalking festival in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India
A smiling woman wearing a yellow sari on the way to the firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India.

Is it Draupadi or Drowpathy?

The main character of the festival is the Karaga, who can be identified by a huge headdress, decorated with strings of jasmine flowers. The Karaga is always the first person to cross the pit of ash, but only after swirls of smoke as seen, an indicator that Draupadi is present. The Karaga’s ten man bodyguard then followed him across. Some walked, looking serene, others ran, kicking up hot ash that landed right by me.

The beating of the drums, the volume of voices from the crowd and the heat of the pit pushed up my adrenalin level and heart rate. I looked at the faces of the devotees about to enter the pit; some joked, others prayed, some seemed detached and serene.

A gentleman who plays the key role of the karaga at the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India.
A gentleman who plays the key role of the Karaga at the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India.

The hottest festival in India?

One or two fire walkers screamed as they passed through the pit. For some it was exultation, but for one woman, who collapsed at the end, it was agony.

Being so close to the action convinced me that there really were no tricks involved and that the people walking across the hot ash were exposing themselves to a significant physical risk. After the firewalk, one of the participants, who recognised me from the temple, showed me the soles of his unblemished feet.

This remarkable festival is worth experiencing in the flesh, particularly when that flesh remains free of injury.

A young child dressed as the Hindu god Krishna ahead of the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India
A young child dressed as the Hindu god Krishna ahead of the annual firewalking festival in Bengaluru, India.

Fire walking festivals around the world

If you are interested in attending a fire walking festival, you may want to plan on attending one of the following events:

The Hiwatara Matsuri fire walking festival held annually, in March, near Tokyo in Japan.

Spain hosts the Paso del Fuego and Las Móndidas festival takes place in San Pedro Manrique.

China’s Lianhua fire walking festival takes place in Zhejiang province.

If you know of other firewalking events or festivals, please feel welcome to share them in the comment’s field below.

Staying in Bengaluru

Looking for a place to stay in Bengaluru? Search for accommodation via Booking.com:


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Getting to Bengaluru

Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru is approximately 35 kilometres north-east of Bengaluru city centre. On a clear road a taxi journey between the two takes 45 minutes. Allow longer if you are travelling during busy periods.

Further Information

For ideas about things to do and see in and around Bengaluru, take a look at the Karnataka Tourism website. For a broader overview about travel and tourism in India, see the Incredible India! website.

Bengaluru was previously known as Bangalore. The Karnataka state government made a decision to change the city’s name from Bangalore in 2006. The Indian government implemented the name change from Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014.

Photos illustrating this post are by Why Eye Photography.

Thinking about travelling to southern India? Take a look at this post about travelling on the Golden Chariot, south India’s luxury train.

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