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The Fire Walking Festival in the Sri Mariamman Temple – Singapore
At the heart of Chinatown lies the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore and one of the major attractions in the country. The Sri Mariamman Temple – Singapore was constructed to serve as a place of worship for immigrants from South India. It was built in honor of their Goddess Mariamman.
Besides various Hindu deities, sculptures and richly decorated interiors, the place becomes famous for its fire-walking ceremony. This unique ceremony is held annually, a week earlier than the Festival of Lights also known as Deepavali.
This sacred rite is held to cleanse one’s soul and to become worthy on the eyes of their idol, Thirobathi. During the rite, devotees surrender themselves to walk on a fiery pit which is nearly 3 meters in length. This ritual symbolizes one’s repentance or a completion of one’s vow. After a devotee crossed the burning pit, they dip their feet onto a vessel filled with milk. Only men devotees are allowed to walk on fire, women devotees just walk around the pit.
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