Hassan Deputy Commissioner KS Lathakumari conducted a ‘kenda seve’, fire walk as part of the Siddeshwara Jatra Mahotsava at the Hasanamba temple premises in Hassan on Thursday. Many residents of Hassan and people from nearby places performed the ritual.
The Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017, which came into force in 2020, prohibits practices and rituals that involve self-inflicted injuries. It prohibits “forcing any person or persons to walk through fire at the time of jatras and religious festivals causing physical injury”. There have been cases of people dying after falling while performing the ritual in various parts of the state.
When Hind contacted the DC, the officer stated that she immediately decided to walk the fire trail as an experiment, but not to promote the practice. “I was there to make sure all the safety measures were in place. There was an ambulance and the fire department. I hadn’t been involved in rituals like this in all these years. I was talking to the women who were doing the ritual and I wanted to know how they felt.”
The DC said that an elderly person who had performed the ritual for several years told her that it was a test of one’s resilience and how prepared one was to face life’s challenges. “I didn’t do it to promote it. It was just an experiment. In my opinion, we shouldn’t support such practices,” she added.
Published – 23 Oct 2025 20:43 IST
