Bengaluru

It was literally baptism by fire on Saturday evening for the Chettiars, a business-oriented community. Around 1100 people from the mercantile community, dressed in traditional finery, congregated at the Meenakshi hall in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar area of Bengaluru to celebrate a unique festival – Pillayar Nonbu – that celebrates risk by swallowing fire. 

Intricate kolams adorned the stairway and entrance to the large hall.  At a table near the entrance, people were being handed tokens. Inside, two beautiful, garlanded images of Lord Ganesha adorned the stage with a delectable array of offerings in front, including coconut, fruit, flowers and a huge copper tambalam (plate) with hundreds of jaggery-rice mounds, each of which was topped by a wick made of 21 threads. Three elders were seated with the wicks ready in their hands.

One by one as the token number was announced, people lined up on the stage, paid obeisance to Lord Ganesha and then were handed a lighted wick which they had to swallow at once. Men, women and astonishingly even small children ate fire with panache. Pregnant women were handed two wicks.

Most people ate the wick fearlessly, while some did it hesitantly, only a few chickened out. Twelve-year old Vihaan, the son of an IT professional, who said he was doing it for the first time, swallowed fire like a pro and laughed exultantly. 

Pillayar Nonbu falls on the 21^st day after Karthikai and the origins of the festival are fascinating. Industrialist C. Valliappa, Chairman of the Sona group and the president of the Karnataka Nagarathar Association, describes how hundreds of years ago their forefathers sailed to the Far East to set up merchant banking enterprises. En route, they were marooned at sea and prayed to Lord Ganesha. They kept count of days by taking strands of threads from their clothing. Finally, on the 21^st day they were rescued – hence the significance of the 21 threads even today.

V. Veerappan, Chairman of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, who will be taking over as the president of the Karnataka Nagarathar Association from Valliappa in February describes how this is one festival that no Chettiar misses celebrating as it is believed to bring good fortune and teaches them to take risks. Many do it at home. But in cities where the Chettiars have a significant population – Chennai, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur – they gather at a hall and do it collectively as a community. 

900 registrations

This year, the Bengaluru event, which began at 6.30 pm, received over 900 registrations but at 9 pm, when it was winding down, over 1100 had swallowed the wick, exceeding expectations. There was an excited stir when 92- year old A.L. Muthiah of Chamundi Textiles, who had set up the Nagarathar Association in Bengaluru made an entry and handed over lighted wicks to a few. 

A sumptuous feast with Chettiar specialities including the vellai paniyaram, followed the ceremony.

There were many first timers at the event like Subramaniam and Shantalakshi, a young couple hailing from Pudukkottai, who now work in Bengaluru. They said they got a notification on Whatsapp and registered with a nominal fee. 

At the event a common lament was how many Nagarathars were moving away from entrepreneurship and opting for professional jobs. That will be the focus of the next IBCN (International Business Conference of Nagarathars) conclave – a biannual networking event of the community, said M. Ramanathan, organising secretary of the conference. “We want to revive the spirit of entrepreneurship in our community. The event is held alternately in India and overseas and in July 2025 will be held in Bengaluru,” he said. 

The community certainly has fire in its belly. Will it show in their businesses?