Thimithi is a Tamil Nadu annual celebration held every year in the Tamil calendar month of Aipasi, which corresponds to October and November in the Gregorian calendar. Draupati Amman is commemorated on this day (Draupadi, wife of the five Pandavas).
Tamil Nadu is the place where this celebration began. It is a Hindu festival that is observed all around the world. Apart from India, this event is also celebrated in Fiji, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, and other countries having a strong South Indian population.
A community of Tamilians known as the Draupadi Amman cult worships Draupadi as Draupadi Amman. Draupadi is revered as the Goddess of the hamlet, and the Goddess’s rites and festivals are faithfully observed. Draupadi Amman is their ‘Kula Devatha,’ or village goddess, in Kondal, Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. A celebration called Thimithi is held in this town.
Thimithi is part of a two-and-a-half-month ritual in which they reenact scenes from the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic set between the Pandava and Kauravas battles.At the end of her victory over the Kauravas, Draupadi walks on fire to demonstrate her virtuosity and virginity via her dedication to dharma. Thimithi is a penance and thanksgiving ritual performed in her honour by devotees.
She was said to be Kali’s reincarnation. Draupathi Amman Temples can be found in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The yearly event is held in and around Senji in Thiruvannamalai’s Thiruvannamalai district.
The ceremony begins in July or August, and 1cthere are further events on Sunday evenings or Monday mornings before the 5-day Deepavali or Diwali begins (Festival of Lights).
A silver chariot procession takes place two days before the real event to commemorate the Pandavas’ triumph in the 18-day battle.A night before Thimithi, the pit for fire walking is prepared. It has a length of 2.7 m. At the conclusion, a little pit is dug. It was brimming with milk from a cow.
Devotees go across a pit of fire, which is a significant aspect of the process. The pit, which is usually four metres long, is filled with hot burning coal that takes four hours to prepare. Prayers and rituals are held before the walking ceremony.Theemithi ceremonies are usually held in Sri Mariamman temples.
With a ‘karakam,’ or sacred, painted pitcher balanced on his head, the temple’s chief priest would be the first to walk across the hot burning coal. Those who wanted to keep their vow accompanied the chief priest.They soak their feet in a pool of cow’s milk at the end of the fire walk.
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