its nothing but fire lit by humans

Makara Jyothi in fact is a clandestinely made artificial fire (created by burning a large quantity of camphor cubes kept in a silver platter)lit by the officials of Kerala Forest Department, Kerala State Electricity Board, the authorities of Sabarimala temple and the Travancore Devaswam Board in connivance with the Police Department of Kerala State and the Government of Kerala.

There is no accurate answer for this, since the existence of god was never proved by the Science. After all, it requires immense faith in god to believe it.

If you believe in the happening " Snake offered Bael leaves to God Siva, one of the three superior gods in hindu", then you must believe in "Makara Jyothi".

It is advisable to do some research on this to acquire some idea though. After all, there are even people of other religion working in Kerala government, so manually lighting something, and renouncing this would cause them to object such claim immediately.

Makara Naotaka died in 1570.

Makara Naotaka was born in 1536.