Beyond Firewalking

[Music playing]

Jimmy
You’re listening to BiblioAsia+, a podcast produced by the National Library of Singapore. At BiblioAsia, we tell stories about Singapore’s past: some unfamiliar, others forgotten, all fascinating.

Hi, everyone. My name is Jimmy Yap, and I’m the editor-in-chief of BiblioAsia, a publication of the National Library of Singapore. In this episode of BiblioAsia+, we’re going to talk about Theemithi, the Hindu firewalking festival. Theemithi takes place sometime between mid-October and mid-November each year, typically the Sunday before Deepavali. In Singapore, several thousand people will walk from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple in Serangoon Road to the Sri Mariamman Temple on South Bridge Road – a distance of about 5 km. At the Sri Mariamman Temple, they will then walk, or perhaps run, over a bed of hot coals within the compound of the temple. The very nature of the event – firewalking –naturally draws a lot of attention. However, this public display of religious devotion has eclipsed an associated cycle of rituals that take place before the firewalking. The rituals play out over a period of three months before the festival. These rituals are an elaborate retelling of events from the Mahabharata, an epic poem from India. Theemithi has been celebrated in Singapore since around the 1830s. With me to talk about the rituals behind the festival and how they have evolved over time is the Nalina Gopal. Nalina is an independent curator and researcher focused on South Asia and its diaspora. She is a founder of Antāti, a historical research and museum consultancy. Nalina has written about Theemithi in BiblioAsia, and she’s here to tell us all about the festival. Hi, Nalina. Thank you for joining us. Tell us, what is being celebrated at Theemithi.

Nalina
Theemithi literally means “walking on fire”, so it’s the firewalking festival. But of course before the fireWalking festival and slightly after it as well, there are rituals that take place. And they form a whole cycle of events that take place over about a three-month period. They are all rituals that are reenactments or a retelling of events inspired by the Mahabharata.

Jimmy
And the Mahabharata is an Indian epic poem.

Nalina
That’s right. The Mahabharata is one of the two great Indian epics, the Ramayana being the other. And the Mahabharata is contained in 18 books. It’s quite a fascinating story. And it’s definitely one aspect of how Indian culture has also impacted other societies. You definitely see its footprint in Southeast Asia and the many adaptations that have been produced in this region. Similarly, even within the subcontinent, there have been many recensions or adaptations of that epic. Inspired by the Tamil versions of the epic are the events of the Theemithi festival.

Jimmy
If I understand you correctly, the firewalking festival is the culmination. Is it a recounting of some events?

Nalina
It’s quite a mix of reenactment and retelling.

Jimmy
What’s the difference?

Nalina
In the reenactment, you actually have volunteers who assume roles, and they literally enact in the form of ritual theatre certain episodes. For instance, whether it is the penance of Arjuna or some of the other elements that involve the presence of Draupadi or Krishna, the deity, then you find that there is that element of [reenactment].

Jimmy
So that’s what you mean by reenactment: you have people who are almost like actors and they reenact a scene, whereas retelling is just someone just reading out the scene.

Nalina
Reading out or the fact that the ritual is actually in the form of a prayer. Some of it is actually retold in that sense.

Jimmy
How is the act of firewalking related to Draupadi?

Nalina
Draupadi – the worship of Draupadi – is actually quite central to the performance of this festival. Draupadi is one of the lead female protagonists of the Mahabharata. She is the wife of the five heroes. The good brothers are the good cousins, the five Pandava brothers. She is actually one of the early instances of polyandry. And you find that Draupadi has a very early connection to the element of fire because she is said to have been born of a ritual fire that was performed by her father, King Drupada. It is her [Draupadi’s] narrative which is actually quite a key turning point in the epic. It’s her humiliation by the evil or the sort of scheming cousins of the Pandavas, the Kauravas, that leads to eventually the battle of Kurukshetra between the cousins. So she’s really quite a pivotal character in the Mahabharata and she’s worshipped in a deified form as Draupadi Amman, or the Mother Goddess, in the particular instance of the worship related to her.

Jimmy
Is it because she’s born in fire, so that’s why firewalking is central to this entire festival?

Nalina
I’m not sure that it is necessarily only that reason. There are actually multiple reasons that could possibly be the reason why: she walked on fire, whether it was to prove her chastity after she was attacked by Keesaga to the Pandava brothers. That could be one reason. It’s also seen as perhaps a post-battle purification exercise when she has been avenged. There are actually slightly different views on why she might have walked the fire.

Jimmy
Theemithi has been celebrated in Singapore since at least 1830. How have the celebrations changed over time?

Nalina
I think change is a very important factor when you look at cultural practice, because it changes from generation to generation. So almost every festival has that element of change built into it. But I’ll just point out some that I’ve noticed. One, I think, it’s a common misconception that women don’t walk the fire because of some religious reason. But actually women walked the fire even in Singapore until the early 20th century. There were just some instances where there were accidents and then I think it was thought to be not safe for women. But you see women still active in many other aspects of the festival. But another change that you see is maybe certain discontinued practices with how ideas in society change as well. For instance some of the sacrificial elements. When goat sacrifice used to take place – that’s not something that is prevalent anymore. Whipping, again, is something that is definitely not as prevalent as it was. So I think there are certain elements within the festival’s overarching framework that have been changing subtly – whether it is the changing of the observance of the festival from Monday to Sunday for purposes of convenience as well. All of these things are quite interesting.

Jimmy
I didn’t realise that it was…

Nalina
In the early years it used to be observed on a Monday.

Jimmy
Oh, I see.

Nalina
And I think it’s quite interesting how human need also shapes how certain things are observed. And, of course, I think it’s definitely much more organised than it used to be. So I think these are just some very small changes that come to mind immediately. But of course if we were to really look at that, I think that could itself be the subject of a paper.

Jimmy
In your essay on Theemithi, you interviewed a person who takes on the role of Draupadi. In your article, it is actually a man. Is that quite common that it’s men who take on the role of Draupadi?

Nalina
In my experience, I’ve not come across any women who partake in the ritual enactment part of the festival. And in the case of all of the characters, they’re played by men. But having said that, it’s not as though women are absent from the ritual space; they do still perform certain rituals, whether it is the performance of kumbuduthandam, which is a particular form of obeisance, or whether it is the lighting of maavilakku, or even in terms of circumambulating the temple’s base by rolling on the floor – angapradakshinam. All of these are still things that women do as forms of prayer and ritual, so it’s not as though they’re entirely absent. And as I mentioned earlier, they even used to walk the fire. It’s just that they’re absent from the ritual enactment part, because you find it’s not just as though only in ritual enactment – even in cinema, even in theatre, you find that men used to play all the roles up to a certain point. So I think it really points to maybe certain patriarchal practices in the performing arts space that might have lent itself to this as well.

Jimmy
In the writing of this, you had to do obviously a lot of research and that shows in the piece. But you also spoke to a number of people who have been involved in the different rituals. What was the most interesting thing that you learned when talking to all these people?

Nalina
I did have my curator hat on when I was speaking to them. And I think what I really enjoyed was discovering some elements of material culture that are associated with the festival.

Jimmy
What does that mean?

Nalina
In terms of objects that are very specifically associated with this festival, I think the most fascinating ritual object is actually an instance of craft-making, because you have the karagam that is built entirely by volunteers.

Jimmy
What is a karagam?

Nalina
The karagam is actually the water vessel that the chief priest, or the pandaram, carries on his head during the foot procession, from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple to the Mariamman Temple. He walks the fire carrying that water vessel on his head. That vessel is actually quite large because it has many elaborations to it in terms of flower, neem leaves, etc. So the making of the karagam itself is quite a fascinating process. It’s also a ritual, of course, and you sort of understand the nuances of how that is made and some of the traditions associated with it. I also got to see some of the other objects that have been associated with the festival, whether it was the katti, or the knife, that used to be used for slaughter, or just sort of also having conversations about the architecture of the temple. I think these were definitely aspects that appealed a lot to the visual curator in me.

Jimmy
What about the stories? Did you hear any interesting stories?

Nalina
The stories were really infinite, Jimmy. I think there were so many stories that really spoke of personal memories of connections, and also of how people have come together as a community to really make what we take for granted today as these rituals and parts of the festival. There was a volunteer who was part of the Aravan group, and he was speaking of how when they took over that responsibility, some of the rituals were not even registered. Then they registered it, and it has reached the stage it has now because of the dedication of the group of volunteers and also the support that they’ve had. So I think people definitely shape how some of these rituals and festivals take place. I think that collective effort definitely came through, I thought that it might be interesting for your listeners to know that Mariamman Temple was not always the site of the firewalking festival. It actually used to take place along Albert Street, and that meant that Albert Street was also given a Tamil name. It used to be called Theemithi Thidal, or open field, where firewalking took place. So I think there are many interesting aspects that we might take for granted today but it actually was quite different in the past. And the many little interesting things in that way.

Jimmy
Of all the rituals that take place before firewalking – and there’s actually quite a lot, right? Anyone who’s interested should really read Nalina’s article in BiblioAsia. But as a spectator, which of these rituals, minus the actual firewalking, is your favourite or speaks to you?

Nalina
I would say that more than a spectator, I just felt like I was a witness to what was clearly very much a ritual that many people were very deeply invested in. I was blessed that I had that opportunity to be able to witness so much of a collective focus and dedication. And I think the one that I really particularly enjoyed being there for was Arjuna’s penance, or Arjunan Thabasu. It’s quite fascinating, really, because you see that they have installed the thabasu maram, or the tree of penance, which is actually a bael tree that Arjuna is said to have done penance on when he went to the Himalayas to get the bone of a particular weapon from the deity Siva, which is the pasupastra. And I liked how they had actually tried to recreate that environment and all of the elements of that narrative within the temple space.

Jimmy
How do you do that?

Nalina
You have this sort of pole that is functioning as the tree and the pole has little branches that curve upward, which then become like handholds and footholds for when the volunteer who is enacting the role of Arjuna uses to climb up. And then there’s a platform at the top where he sits and he meditates. And, of course, these days because of the benefit of technology, you also have sound that helps transport you to that space. So he meditates there, and at the end of that successful meditation, to give you the idea that Siva grants him his presence and then gives him the weapon, there’s actually a drop-down curtain that is suspended to one of the upper storeys of the temple’s viewing galleries. It drops down and there’s a bit of light there, so it really gives you the idea that somebody has just appeared. I just felt like it was so nicely done, and so simply done. And at the end of it all, he throws down this garland, and sort of breaks it down and he throws it down to the people who are there, the devotees who are there. And the little children were so excited to try and go and get it. And I think it’s a huge way to engage your congregation or the people who are there in this whole thing because narrative-making and myth-making is one of the ways that… Since time immemorial, human storytelling is really what has kept our cultures alive. And you feel like you see them literally doing that in such a simple yet appealing way.

Jimmy
That’s very interesting. We talk about the children witnessing all these rituals, but I guess, presumably, because of the size of the temple, a lot of the focus ends up being on the firewalking, right? This whole cycle of rituals that lead up to it – is it well known that all these rituals take place and do people attend and participate?

Nalina
The temple publishes the calendar of events – it’s displayed at the temple. We’re now in COVID times, but pre-COVID it used to be one of the most popular tourist sites apart from being a place that is very much accessed by the local community for worship. So definitely people who visit the temple would know. But what the Hindu Endowments Board has been doing in the last few years is also quite remarkable. They’ve been doing a live telecast of all of the events. So actually if anyone wants to see it, and it’s not yet time for the next festival, they could actually visit the YouTube channel of the board and be able to see every single ritual and how it is performed – the whole thing. And Mr Palani who works at Tamil Murasu does a live commentary for visitors to understand the significance of the rituals. So making things more accessible, instead of making it so cheem [complex] that nobody understands it. Everybody’s really invested in making the significance of the festival really accessible. Now, of course, this might then be something that only if you access the temple physically or you came across it, or if you’re a researcher or someone like that. And maybe if you’re from other communities, you may not have the opportunity to go and engage with this. But I think there’s no sort of restraint. And definitely the rituals before the Theemithi are not as crowded. For Theemithi, you literally need a pass or you need to go really early to find the space. But for the other rituals, the daily activities of the temple are ongoing, so people could still come to the temple and witness the other rituals taking place.

Jimmy
Would it be accurate to say that Theemithi is much more. Not just a Hindu festival or a Tamil Hindu festival. Am I completely off base here?

Nalina
It’s definitely a Tamil Hindu festival. But you do see firewalking in some of the other parts of South India as well. It’s definitely a Tamil diasporic festival as well – you see it in Singapore, you see it in Southeast Asia, you see it in South Africa. You actually see it where many of the 19th-century Tamil diaspora settled in. So it’s quite fascinating that it’s definitely, together with Thaipusam, something that you see quite prominently in diasporic Tamil societies.

Jimmy
Obviously it’s a Hindu festival. At the same time, there seems to be a very obvious minority of Chinese people who seem to be [fire]walking on the pit. Are these Chinese Hindus? What is behind all this?

Nalina
Personally, I think, for Theemithi you see fewer Chinese than you would have in the past, or maybe none at all, depending on the year.

Jimmy
So it’s a very, very small…

Nalina
A small number. But if you were to actually just cross the borders and go into Malaysia, like if you go for the Sembahyang Dato Charchar Festival, which is also a Mariamman festival dedicated to the goddess.

Jimmy
Which also involves firewalking?

Nalina
Which involves an element of firewalking, but only some members of the community walk. But as you see, because it also involves the carrying of the kavadi, which is what you will now see only during Thaipusam, but even in Singapore in the past, during Theemithi there used to be the carrying of the kavadias well. So you find that the participation of the Chinese community is still quite high there. And generally in Malaysia, I think you’ll find that even in Thaipusam, [the number of Chinese] is quite high. Why are they Chinese Hindus, I don’t think that’s necessary, I think they could be individuals who are either Buddhist, Taoist or maybe even practising Confucianism. And they feel like they as individuals can actually then source what they want from the different faiths. Sort of an idea of a polytropic religious space. So they are able to actually access from different faiths what they feel they need for their spiritual or religious needs. So you find that they participate. And I think, during Thaipusam, you might even see that some of their kavadimight have deities of other faiths in there. Oh, so it’s quite interesting.

Jimmy
I didn’t know this. So clearly, then, Theemithi, [there are] not so many Chinese people.

Nalina
In Singapore I don’t see as many as before. But because when I look at old photographs, there definitely were a lot more Chinese devotees. The numbers have reduced, but I think in Malaysia you will see that in festivals associated – whether it’s with the Mother Goddess, or whether it’s with Murugan – it’s definitely much higher, the participation.

Jimmy
Okay. That brings me to my next question, which is how does the celebration of Theemithi in Singapore differ within the Tamil diaspora. And within perhaps in Tamil Nadu itself?

Nalina
If you look at within Tamil Nadu definitely I think the rituals would be more elaborate. It’s still observed in certain parts of Tamil Nadu, and it’s definitely more elaborate. Even the ritual theatre would be more elaborate because of the sheer numbers that might participate in the festival or just the long history of the conduct of those festivals. So, in that sense, I think it would definitely be slightly different. But definitely what you see in Singapore is based on what actually emerged from there. So the cycle of events would be the same, but how they observe and the kind of elaboration of them would definitely be quite different, in the number of days, etc, the festival might actually span across… It will be different. Now in the diaspora, I think I would look at it through the broader lens of Mother Goddess worship; I think you will find that when you look at Theemithi, there might be some similarities between how it’s held here and with diasporas in South Africa, Mauritius. But again there might be variants in terms of the number of days and how the festival is actually split across how many days, etc.

Jimmy
So it’s relatively minor variations?

Nalina
I think so, because the fundamental principle of the festival of Theemithi would be the same. Having said that, there would still be instances where fires are walked for a different Mother God. It could be for Mariamman – people don’t necessarily walk the fire only for Draupadi; they could walk it for Mariamman too. There might be variants there in terms of Theemithi being performed because Theemithi literally means “walking fire”, but it could be walking fire to propitiate a different deity.

Jimmy
Right. So the act of walking fire is not necessarily only going to be for this particular festival is what you’re saying.

Nalina
Yes.

Jimmy
And I think you mentioned earlier that the Sembahyang Dato Charchar in Melaka involves some firewalking.

Nalina
Yes, that’s a festival that is very much safeguarded and championed by the Chitty Melakans, the Peranakan Indian community. It actually takes place at the Mariamman Temple inside Gajah Berang, which is actually the settlement that the Chitty Melakans have there. It’s a festival. The procession takes place from the Poyatha Venayagar Moorthi, or the Ganesha Temple, which is outside in the heart of Melaka town, to the Mariamman Temple. And you have devotees carrying the kavadi, and that’s on the main day of the festival. But on the eve of that festival, there’s one member of the Chitty Melaka community who actually carries the thichatti, or the fire pot, and then he walks the fire. So there are these elements that also point to – and I think you’ll find it in Singapore as well – that there are some overlaps in terms of the worship of Mariamman and Draupadi. So you will find that happens. In Gajah Berang you don’t really see so much the presence of Draupadi, but you definitely see the presence of Mariamman.

Jimmy
What do you remember? What do you personally remember from the first festival that you attended?

Nalina
My earliest memories of a festival will probably be Deepavali at home. And since we’re talking about fire, I should also say that I was someone who…

Jimmy
You set somebody on fire?

Nalina
No, I always used to be prone to fire accidents, even the sparkler used to… I had an instance where the sparkler burned a hole through my t-shirt. So somehow, I think, this will be a connection.

Jimmy
With you and fire.

Nalina
Yeah. Deepavali was always a time that we would get together with my grandfather and so I have very fond memories of that festival.

Jimmy
Okay. Now we come to the quickfire portion of our interview. Who do you think is the most interesting person in Singapore history?

Nalina
I feel like I need to say someone who is Indian because there is so little talk of them when you look at it as Singapore history and you don’t look at it as a micro-history. And I think even though, at the risk of sounding cliched, I want to say Naraina Pillai. Not because he is labelled as being the first Indian to arrive here, but simply because there’s so little information about a man who is so talked about. I actually just want to find out more about him as a historian. I want to know if what is said about him in history is something that really happened the way they said. I want to ask him what footprints he has left behind. I want to know what he looked like, because there’s no image of him. There’s all this talk of about how he was built up based on certain accounts of him, but I really just want to know more about him because there’s so little that’s known about him.

Jimmy
If I asked you which historical figure you’d like to have dinner with?

Nalina
In terms of who I find most interesting, I think that would be Munshi Abdullah. Because he was an eyewitness to events, not just in Singapore, but in Melaka. And I’d just like to understand what society was like.

Jimmy
What do you think is the most interesting or underrated part of Singapore’s history? It doesn’t have to be so specific, history in general.

Nalina
Maybe when we look at history, I say, rather than look at a time period, I might say that it is actually certain narratives that are underrated, like micro-histories within certain communities and maybe what they experienced during a particular time period. Whether you look at the war period, whether you look at what they were like in the early 20th century or the late 19th century. And I think to sort of look at history through different lenses; not necessarily only from a national perspective, but also from the perspective of those who might be on the fringe, and to just sort of re-understand national history through their lens.

Jimmy
Well, that’s what we try to do at BiblioAsia. I’m not sure if we succeed, but that’s what we try to do. What book do you have on your nightstand?

Nalina
I don’t have a nightstand, but I do have books on my phone. And they may not necessarily be constant. I definitely always have dictionaries, whether they’re English dictionaries or English-to-Tamil, Tamil-to-English dictionaries. Or any other language that I might actually be looking at, I think it’s important. Those are constant. But in terms of what I’m reading, I have a book that I haven’t read yet. So that’s something that’s on my [to-read list]. Which I am waiting to read [when I] find the time. That’s Lords of the Deccan, the Deccan region. So I’m waiting to read it.

Jimmy
Who is it written by?

Nalina
Anirudh Kanisetti. It’s about the Deccan Empire and that aspect of history. So I want to read that. It’s waiting for me to read. I can tell you more about what it’s about after I’ve read it.

Jimmy
Complete the sentence: history is…

Nalina
Something that needs to be revisited.

Jimmy
Why? Why does it have to be revisited? What does that mean?

Nalina
What it means to me is that we often take certain things for granted, forgetting that history is literally “his story”, that it is also subjective. With new evidence coming to light, or just sort of to relook at things in conjunction with things that might have been left out. So I think it’s important to revisit history and not take it for granted.

Jimmy
Okay. And BiblioAsia is…

Nalina
I would say it’s actually quite rewarding as a read. I always get to know things that I didn’t know about enough. And things that I’ve always just heard about. I think it’s quite rewarding that it’s focused on a region that might otherwise be neglected. So I think it’s quite an interesting read as well.

Jimmy
Thank you, Nalina, for joining us on BiblioAsia+ today.

Nalina
Thank you, Jimmy, for allowing me the opportunity to talk about a festival that is so visible, yet not so widely known.

Jimmy
Well, to learn more about the rituals behind Theemithi, please check out Nalina’s article ↗ (opens in new tab) on the BiblioAsia website at BiblioAsia.nlb.gov.sg ↗ (opens in new tab). If you’ve enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast ↗ (opens in new tab) and BiblioAsia newsletter ↗ (opens in new tab). Thank you for joining me on BiblioAsia+.

Cinkappur Sri Mariyamman Kovil, Mahaparatham ↗ (opens in new tab), private records, 1896. (From National Archives of Singapore, microfilm no. NA1984)

E.V. Singhan, Timiti Festival ↗ (opens in new tab) (Singapore: EVS Enterprises, 1976), 8. (From National Library, Singapore, call no. RSING 294.538 SIN)

Nalina Gopal, “Theemithi: A Look at the Full Cycle of Rituals Behind the Festival of Firewalking ↗ (opens in new tab),” BiblioAsia 18, no. 3 (October–December 2022).

Nalina Gopal, “A Sea of Change, An Ocean of Memories,” in Singapore Indian Heritage ↗ (opens in new tab), ed. Rajesh Rai and A. Mani (Singapore: Indian Heritage Centre, 2017). (From National Library, Singapore, call no. RSING 305.89141105957 SIN

Suchitthra Vasu, “Theemithi ↗ (opens in new tab),” Singapore Infopedia, published 2015, National Library Board.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Gibson Analytics. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven ↗ (opens in new tab). Special thanks to Nalina for coming on the show.

The BiblioAsia Podcast by the National Library Singapore tells stories about Singapore history.