950 Hindu devotees join fire-walking festival

The annual fire-walking festival at Sri Mariamman Temple, which typically draws thousands of Hindu devotees, was a scaled-down affair this year with Covid-19 safe management measures in place.

The 950 devotees who crossed the "carpet" of burning embers barefoot during the fire-walking ceremony, Theemithi, at the temple in South Bridge Road had to be fully vaccinated or show a valid pre-event test result.

Devotees were allowed to enter the temple only during their specified time slots.

Pre-event rituals such as the carrying of paalkudam (milk pots) and angapradakshanam, the act of prostration by rolling one's body, were held over several weekends from the first weekend of this month.

As part of the safety measures, all participants had to remain masked up, and for pre-event rites, splashing of water was disallowed.

Some volunteers at the fire pit were seen without masks. A Hindu Endowments Board spokesman said they were exposed to the extreme heat from the fire pit, which makes breathing difficult. They wore their masks immediately after leaving the pit.

Last year, only essential persons were involved in the religious ritual, with no public participation at Sri Mariamman Temple though proceedings were live-streamed.

Before the pandemic, 5,000 to 6,000 would participate in the ceremony about a week before Deepavali, which is on Nov 4 this year. Just 100 were allowed last year.

Onlookers and supporters were not allowed during this year's fire-walking ceremony, but it was live-streamed on the Hindu Endowments Board's YouTube channel and Facebook page from 5am.