A video of hundreds of devotees performing a fire ritual - Thoothedhara or Agni Kheli - to pay their respects to Goddess Durga has surfaced on the Internet. The clip is from Sri Durgaparameshwari temple in Karnataka's Kateel, around 350 km from the state capital Bengaluru.
The video, shared by news agency ANI, shows people throwing balls of fire at each other in an open field. As a part of the ritual, people are seen dressed in saffron colour dhotis. In the background, we can hear the sound of dhol. Sri Durgaparameshwari is one of the oldest temples in Kateel town in the Dakshina Kannada district.
Devotees, who have divided themselves into two groups, are trying to hit the other with the burning palm fronds. Some of them are seen laughing after they manage to duck the incoming missiles, while those who could not save themselves appeared disappointed briefly before again participating in the ritual.
#WATCH | Devotees hurled fire at each other as part of a fire ritual 'Thoothedhara' or ‘Agni Kheli' to pay reverence to goddess Durga at Sri Durgaparameshwari temple in Kateel, Karnataka (22.04) pic.twitter.com/q4SHMFAGak
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2022
A lot of people have reacted to the clip shared on Twitter. Some have underlined the risks associated with the ritual.
“Dangerous. Hope those people stay safe,” said one user.
Dangerous-hope those people stay safe
— sfd (@sfdeshmukh) April 23, 2022
Another person wrote, “Surprised no one is getting injured.”
Surprised no one is getting injured????
— Raghu (kattar Congressi) (@FirsebolRaghu) April 23, 2022
In April every year, the “Agni Kheli” ritual is organised at Sri Durgaparameshwari temple as part of a grand eight-day festival.
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