Fire Walk

A pit in the premises of a temple

Filled with red hot charcoal

Resembling the molten lava

A crowd waiting eagerly

With their souls dedicated to prayers

An aura of spirituality fumed in air

In the darkness of late night

They are all awake in anticipation

Even the stars and moon watched

With curiosity

As the priest blessed the chosen ones

Dressed in the holy colors

Totally immersed in devotion

The spirit of the crowd rose

The chants of applause

Cheered up the chosen ones

They had their eyes on that pit

It shined and lured

Them like expensive jewelry

They took bunch of neem leaves

In their hands

And lined up to walk over that hot bed

Nobody had the fear of burn

Only one thing in mind

Pure dedication to the task

To show their affection to the god

One by one they walked

They didn’t run

They didn’t cry

Even when it seemed like burning

They walked and returned for more

The chants of devotion reached new highs

As prayers conquered the whole area

As they felt the presence of ultimate energy

At the end of the ritual

They applied holy ash on their legs

And rested in tranquility

With a sense of satisfaction

About fulfilling the pledge

Taken during some tough times

That they will do this if they succeed

This is just a return of favor

From heart to please almighty

There may be skeptical onlookers

Who question the logic

But ,some times

Belief ,Customs and experiences

Can stand tall as solemn truth

Defying all logics

Fire walk

It’s a divine walk

To defeat the fear

To defeat the sins

To embrace the goodness

To embrace the god

As a true devotee

I was inspired by the devotion of many people who walked over the fire pits during special festivals in certain temples.