Content Warning: This section discusses colonial and sexist violence and discrimination and the killing of children.

Fire and burning are a motif in the novel representing The Corrupting Influence of Power and The Destructive Nature of Colonialism. The Parijati religion reveres the martyred mothers, who were burned to stop Ahiranya from its expansion in the Age of Flowers. In the present, Chandra immolates people as a tool of control and purification. The image of Ahiranyi women being burned in the city becomes a symbol of imperial violence, and the method of execution is a ritualistic assertion of power.

For Malini, who narrowly escapes being burned at the start of the novel, the fire becomes a symbol of the oppressive patriarchal system that she is determined to overthrow. However, as Malini’s ambition grows, she grows to embrace the fire. Her decision to set the lacquer gardens ablaze, sacrificing the priests of the nameless god and Chandra’s soldiers alike in the process, demonstrates her readiness to use ruthless measures to achieve her goals. Burning the monastery is not just a tactical maneuver; it shows her willingness to embrace the destructive aspects of power to carve out a path to the throne.