THROUGH THE FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 136, 12 June 1930, Page 15

THROUGH THE FIRE

A YEARLY DRAMA

"CLEANSING THE SOUL"

Rows of motor-cars, more than a mile long, stood parked outside an. arena in the South African seaport of Durban when several thousand citizens drove out to witness the annual Hindu fire-walking ceremony, writes Eric Eosenthal in +he "San Francisco Chronicle." For yaars past the Orientals who migrated to this Continent to work in the sugar regions of Natal have regularly indulged in the pastime of "sntri," but on this occasion the attention it awakened among the European settles made it much more than a religious festival. In sight of a great crowd, white, Zulu, and Indian, tho ceremony of: walking •■_ bare-footed through a glowing fire, without suffering injury, was given. ... Films were taken of the spectacle, hundreds of cameras recorded it, and . the organisers of the affair invited all strangers to approach and see that there was "positively no deception.''" The' practice, though imported to Africa by the labourers recruited in Hindustan, has been amplified j,nd developed here until it contains features not' usual in the homeland. Its purpose is taid to be religious' cleansing; a purifying of the soul.by ire. ; ■; Each year volunteers come forward.to undergo tv process of fire walking. Onthis occasion the.number of sutris was ■ small,, amounting only to twelve, but they included two women and a few boys. . . BURNING- COALS. Indians, picturesquely robed and turbaned, swathed in saris, or loin cloths, carrying tom-toms, censers, and devotional symbols attende. Beside them the Zulus, curious and dignified, formed considerable part of tho mob that surrounded the grandstand' which was principally occupied by Europeans/ Long before "the ceremony started excited Indian worshippers were filling' the pit;, which was many yards across, to about a foot deep with burning coal and logs. The flames were allowed" to die. down until they wera not more than' an inch or two above the embers. The preliminary prayers of the priests died away, the tom-toms droned, and the crowd allowed the first worshipper to step forward. He took off his sandals, strode to the edge of the red-hot coals— and started across them. '■..-.-■ Watchers, on the look-out for trickßrjr and deception, examined the feet of the man. Everything was in order. VNo protective substance had been applied.When the sutri got away from the side of the pit his toes could bo. seen to be sinking into the glowing fiery: logs. Friendly hands reached out on tha other wall to :»elp the fire walker on the oppb-' site side. He .strolled about afterward. Doctors present testified that ho had suffered no injury. : , > -.-. ■>;■ < :■' Tho nest sutri was a woman. Herclothing seemed to be scorched by thfy flames, but she turned back for a fewsteps before completing the journey. A little boy had to L^, helped through by his father, but he confessed that it was the crowd rather than the fire that ' he feared. He showed no blisters or other injury to his feet and laughed about.the adventure when all was over. In addition to exposing themselves to burning a ruuiber of fire walkers plungr ed small silver hooks through theirchins and other parts of their bodies. NO VOLUNTEERS. ' The greatest thrill of the day occurred when two men entered the scorching hot excavation together. Accidentally, they collided.in the .middle.-.-Women in the : audience fainted. Neither, of the Indians was hurt. . .'. . White men were invited to join in the ceremony. -This year none volunteered, but on the previous occasion two.meni from Johannesburg, Transvaal, Hercules Hentsikos and a friend, participated. They underwent a preliminary period of • fasting and abstention from all pleasures, passed through the same ritual as the Hindus and walked resolutely across the flames. Though the men confessed to a nervor.sncss as to the outcome, they were uninjured. Children's protection organisations a* Durban protested against tho fact that tiny youngsters take part in the festival. Hitherto'their arguments hava not had much effect on the Indians. They declare that no one is ever. .hurt.