A tragic stampede at Baba Siddhanath temple in Bihar’s Jehanabad district claimed the lives of seven devotees, including three women, while injuring at least 16 others. The incident occurred on Baravar hills during the sacred month of Shravan when a large crowd had gathered for the temple’s annual consecration ceremony. Despite allegations that excessive force was used to control the crowd, leading to the chaos, local authorities have denied any negligence. According to Diwakar Kumar Vishwakarma, Town Inspector of Jehanabad, seven bodies were sent to the Jehanabad Post-mortem House for autopsy.
An eyewitness claimed that the stampede was triggered when volunteers used force to break up a fight involving a flower vendor, causing panic and chaos among the devotees. The eyewitness further alleged a lack of administrative presence to manage the crowd, which exacerbated the situation. The injured were immediately taken to hospitals in Makhdumpur and Jehanabad for treatment. The stampede took place on the fourth Monday of the holy Sawan month, a time when the temple is particularly crowded with devotees.
This tragic event follows another deadly incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, where over 120 people lost their lives in a stampede at a religious gathering dedicated to Baba Narayan Hari, also known as ‘Bhole Baba.’ The organizers had obtained permission for 80,000 attendees, but the actual turnout far exceeded this number, leading to the disaster. The similarities between these two incidents highlight the challenges in managing large crowds during religious events.
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