25 Years of Fire-Walking and Temple Pigeons

Today my mom and I were in a big rush to get to the Mariamman Temple in South Bridge Road in Singapore. Mariamman or Durga is the Goddess celebrated for courage and valor among the Indians. The most famous festival to honor her is the fire-walking ceremony where ordinary mortals descend on a pit of burning coal to show their courage and devotion to the Goddess. Every year in this Mariamman Temple in Singapore this is a major event in the spiritual calendar.

My mom had given an abhishegam in the temple and were had to be there at 10am. It was divinely ordained that we should flag down a taxi driven by a devout Amman devotee. This is super-rare in Singapore where Indian constitute a 7% minority and most of them love the elephanat God - Ganesha.

The taxi driver was completely excited when we told him we were in a rush to go to the Mariamman temple. He said for 25 years he has been descending the fire pit to show his love for the Goddess. He said that if he has sinned he will get burnt and punished and he is completely prepared for that. But in all the 25 years he had never been burnt. He fasts for a month prior to the ceremony to cleanses himself spiritually for the event. He believes that fasting is an act of penance - just like fire walking - it builds emotional and mental resilience. Most importantly it brings one closer to the divine. He said that every year the temple pigeon descends the fire pit BEFORE any of the fire-walkers descend the pit. For over 20 years he said that this has witnessed the Goddess Aman in the form of a pigeon descend on the pit, touch the fire before anyone of the other fire-walkers would walk. This he said was a deeply auspicious and important sign. But with increasing urbanization and "efficient" administration - the pigeons have been chased away and in the recent years there has been no sign of any pigeons. His father he said was a port worker (Singapore has a long and illustrious history as a port and is today's the world's largest port) and has done enormous amount for the temple. He, inspired by his father, had collected over $1million for the deity's diamond crown which now belongs to the temple.

A divine and beautiful encounter. Needless to say my mom and I got to the temple inspired and delighted.