crushed in devotion

August 27, 2003: 39 pilgrims killed, 125 injured when devotees who were waiting to bathe heaved over a flimsy fence triggering a stampede at Kumbh Mela bathing festival in Nasik, Maharashtra.
January 25, 2005: 340 devotees trampled to death during an annual pilgrimage at Mandhra Devi temple in Maharashtra.
March 7, 2006: 28 killed and 101 injured in two bombings across Varanasi. First blast at a Varanasi temple followed by another at Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station crowded with pilgrims.
August 3, 2008: 162 dead while 47 are injured in a stampede triggered by rumors of a rockslide at Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh.
August 10, 2008: Two pilgrims died when over 250 people were left stranded on stairs leading to ancient Mahadeva temple in Kota district of north-western Rajasthan collapsed.
September 30, 2008: 147 devotees lost their lives in a stampeded triggered by rumors of a bomb in the temple.

This chronology of temple tragedies reveals the unfortunate fact that in spite of loosing so many precious lives in the past, we have still not matured enough to implement proper rules and regulations in order to ensure a smooth flow of crowds in places of worship. Ironically, stampedes have taken more lives than bomb blasts in India. In 2008 alone so far, over 360 people lost their lives in stampedes as compared to 156 killed in bomb blasts. The worst part is when there is a tragedy like a bomb blast; at least some action is taken by the government. The security is tightened (though only superficially and momentarily), arrests are made, people themselves become more cautious etc. But there is little done to prevent stampedes. Stampedes happen and are conveniently forgotten till the next one claim valuable lives again.

My heart grieves at the sad state of affairs as far as management at religious places is concerned. Has the life of our people become so inexpensive that it can be sacrificed at the altar of worship? Is it so difficult to implement some rules to manage devotees properly? Can we not spare some manpower and money to ensure a chaos free flow of traffic in temples, rather than using abundance of these resources to just build concrete jungles?

We have a timeless tradition of religious and cultural pilgrimages where gatherings running into lakhs of people on days of special religious or spiritual significance are a regular feature. While the major pilgrim destinations are usually geared towards handling large crowds, the smaller ones come to notice only when a tragedy strikes — the recent stampede at Jodhpur, for instance. Stampedes are mainly caused by inefficient crowd management when an administration is caught off guard by an abrupt swelling up of numbers of worshippers. There are places of worship like Vaishno devi mandir where only a limited number of people are allowed to go inside the cave at one time. Though there are long queues of devotees waiting for hours at a stretch, it ensures a smooth flow of crowd. Those who have religious fervor understand the value of waiting and are consequently rewarded with a hassle free visit to their deity.

There should be a continuous monitoring of the number of people who are allowed to worship in the temple at one time. For others, there should be proper rest areas made so that people of all age groups can wait patiently and conveniently. People should be allowed to move forward only in proper queues and for this surveillance sufficient number of security guards should be on patrol. Help can be taken by NGO’s and volunteers who are always there to render their selfless services. Security should definitely be increased on special religious occasions in anticipation of larger crowds.

If our government takes few steps towards the improvement of crowd management at religious places, these places would never have to witness the agony of grieving devotees and the anguish of wailing survivors.