94-year-old priest FIRST statement on stampede in Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, says, ‘Act of god,…no one responsible…’
A day after the horrific stampede tragedy at a temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, which claimed the lives of 10 devotees, 9 women and 1 child, the chief priest and founder of the temple gave his first reaction.
A day after the horrific stampede tragedy at a temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, which claimed the lives of 10 devotees, 9 women and 1 child, the chief priest and founder of the temple gave his first reaction. Hari Mukunda Panda, a 94-year-old temple priest and founder of the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kashibugga, was shocked by the huge rush to the temple, which he had never seen before. The temple was built by him at a cost of Rs 10 crore On 12 decares of its 50 decare land.
On the auspicious occasion of Ekadashi, the temple popularly known as ‘Chinna Tirupati’ or ‘Mini Tirupati’ witnessed a huge influx of devotees leading to this great tragedy. Priest Hari Mukunda Panda, who personally cooks the prasad and supervises the temple rituals, told the media: ‘We were expecting around 2,000 devotees to come. ‘I’ve never seen so much rush here in my life.’ At the time of Ekadashi, around 25,000 devotees were present in the temple premises, more than twelve times its actual capacity.
‘Usually the crowd is small. After darshan, people take prasad and leave. Towards 9 o’clock yesterday morning, the rush became uncontrollable. The prasad we had cooked was finished. “We didn’t have time to prepare further,” he said.
On holding temple officials responsible for the stampede
While Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu announced that he would provide financial compensation to the families of the victims, he blamed the temple authorities for the tragedy. It is alleged that temple officials did not inform state authorities and local police about this massive influx in advance. ‘If he had informed the police earlier, arrangements could have been made to control the crowd,’ CM Naidu said.
While this priest admitted that he did not inform local authorities, ‘The temple is privately run. “We didn’t feel like we needed security or police deployment,” he said. Priest Panda is a devotee of Lord Venkateswara and built the temple on his private land just four months ago. ‘I built the temple on my own private land. Why should I inform the police or administration?’ he added.
‘You can book multiple cases. “I don’t have any problems,” he said. While speaking to Priest Medi, he described this as ‘God’s work’ and said:‘No one is responsible, this was an act of God.’
Following the stampede, the temple under construction was sealed by the authorities. A lock was placed on the entrance gate and police were deployed inside the temple for further investigation.
