SRIKAKULAM: A stampede at a privately run temple in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh killed 9 devotees – eight girls and a 13-year-old boy – and left greater than 25 injured Saturday morning, after a railing collapse on a slim staircase prompted panic in a crowd of over 20,000 gathered for Karthika Ekadashi. The toll could rise because the situation of a number of the injured is important.The Venkateswara Swamy temple, positioned at Kasibugga below Palasa mandal and modelled on the Tirumala shrine in Tirupati, was constructed by 94-year-old Hari Mukund Panda from Odisha and opened simply 4 months in the past. One gate serving each entry and exit, poor crowd management, and lack of official clearance turned the pilgrimage into chaos. “No person is accountable – it was an act of god,” Panda stated.
Act Of God, Says Shrine Founder; CM Vows Motion
District police chief KV Maheswara Reddy stated the principle sanctum sits on the primary ground with about 20 steps resulting in it. “A railing alongside the staircase, believed to be poorly constructed, collapsed and prompted an individual to fall, triggering panic because the packed crowd surged ahead,” he stated.Calling the deaths “extraordinarily heart-breaking”, CM N Chandrababu Naidu stated: “Had police been knowledgeable upfront, they might have carried out a crowd administration plan. These accountable will face motion.”
With no prior approval, temple overwhelmed by pageant crowd
Srikakulam: The Venkateswara Swamy temple at Kasibugga, visited by round 3,000 devotees on Saturdays, noticed a crowd practically seven instances that quantity on the day of the stampede because it was the primary Karthika Ekadashi for the reason that temple’s inauguration. With no prior approval for the gathering or sufficient safety, the few guards have been overwhelmed.District police chief KV Maheswara Reddy stated temple authorities did not alert police or the district administration concerning the pageant and the doubtless crowd. Police have registered a case below part 100 (culpable murder) of BNS and detained 4 temple workers for questioning. The shrine is just not registered with Andhra endowments division, which oversees 1000’s of temples statewide. “Every little thing appeared high-quality round 9am, however instantly the variety of devotees surged. The slim stairway was choked. I used to be close by when the railing broke and folks began falling over one another,” stated R Ramanamma, a devotee.The deceasad have been E Chinnammi (46), R Vijaya (48) from Tekkali; M Neelamma (60) from Vajrapukotturu; D Rajeswari (60), G Rupa (50), B Brunda from Mandasa; Ch Yasodamma (56) from Nandigam; D Ammulamma from Kasibugga; and L Nikhil (13) from Sompeta. Two girls – B Kalavathi and R Kumari – stay important. “I’ve instructed officers to make sure therapy for the injured,” CM Naidu stated. PM Modi stated he was “pained” by the tragedy. “I pray that the injured recuperate quickly,” he stated, asserting Rs 2 lakh ex gratia to every sufferer’s household and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Saturday’s crush was the third main temple tragedy in Andhra this yr.
How a 94-yr-old man’s mini-Tirupati shrine become a website of demise
Religion met fury of destiny Saturday morning at Kasibugga in Srikakulam when a temple born of 1 man’s devotion become a website of demise. 9 devotees have been crushed to demise at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple, constructed by 94-year-old Hari Mukund Panda, reviews Umamaheswara Rao.Panda, initially from Odisha, had dreamed of constructing the shrine after an “unsatisfactory” darshan at Tirupati a decade in the past. His mom Hari Vishnupriya had urged him to construct a temple of their very own. That suggestion grew to become a mission. On 12 acres of household land, Panda created a near-replica of Tirumala — full with rituals, structure, and traditions — to deliver Lord Venkateswara nearer to devotees of north coastal Andhra and southern Odisha.The temple, regionally generally known as ‘chinna-Tirupati’ (mini-Tirupati), opened 4 months in the past. It was constructed fully with Panda’s personal funds — no donations, no trustees. The 9ft single-stone idol of Lord Venkateswara was carved in Tirupati and dominates the sanctum. A whole lot of different divine idols dot the complicated, mixing Odisha’s sculptural fashion with south Indian temple design.However on the temple’s first main pageant — Karthika Ekadasi — devotion overwhelmed design. The Ekadasi tithi started at 9.10am, and inside minutes, volunteers have been overrun.Past the temple, Panda is thought for quiet philanthropy — feeding a whole lot of poor and otherwise abled folks weekly, funding pensions and arranging transport from Palasa railway station to his orchard for Monday meals. Panda stated, “I constructed this temple to supply devotees peaceable and free darshan of Lord Venkateswara, to not witness such deaths.”