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Singapore Fire Walking Festival 2023 date – Theemithi Ritual at Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore 2023

Fire Walking Festival 2023 date as per Singapore Hindu Endowments Board. The annual Fire Walking Festival, also known as Thimithi, at the Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore attracts thousands of Hindu devotees, especially Tamilians from Singapore, India, and Malaysia. Singapore Fire Walking Festival 2023 date is November 5, Sunday. The Theemithi Ritual is dedicated to Queen Draupadi of Mahabharata who is worshiped as Draupadi Amman in Tamil Culture.


Important Note - Online registration is required to participate in all events of the festival. You can register here for participating in the 2023 festival.

It is 3-month long festival with several pre-event day ceremonies that culminate to the Theemithi (Firewalking) Day. The festival starts nearly three months before with Kodiyetram (festival flag hoisting). Theemithi (Firewalking) is the main event and post-event ceremonies conclude a couple of days after the firewalking day.

Devotees perform the Theemithi ritual for their wishes and prayers fulfilled by the Mother Goddess. Thousands of devotees have had their wishes fulfilled after praying at the Sri Mariamman Temple.

The main ritual during the fire walking ceremony involves walking over a four-meter pit of burning coal specially prepared at the Mariamman Temple. The chief priest of Sri Mariamman Temple after special prayers and pujas walks over the burning coal and he is followed by those devotees who wish to take part in the ritual. Devotees young and old participate in the ritual.

Theemithi Ritual at Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore

The main ceremony begins at midnight (0100 hrs) devotees take the ritual bath at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple and walk up to Mariamman Temple. All the important rituals associated with Tamil festivals are part of the fire walking ceremony.

One of the most striking aspects of the Theemithi – Fire Walking Festival – is that all devotees come out of the coal bed without any burns.

History Of Fire Walking Festival In Singapore

The festival has a long history and has been part of the Hindu life in Singapore for more than 150 years. It was introduced by those who were brought here by the British to work from the villages of Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India. The event is part of the folklore of the Indian epic Mahabharata and is in honour of Goddess Sri Draupadi Amman, the wife of Pandavas in the epic and one of the main deities at Sri Mariamman Temple. It symbolizes the completion of her vow at the end of the great war in that epic.


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