Venkateshwara Temple: 6 People died
6 People Died in Stampede
Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala Venkateswara Temple is considered the most sacred temple in India. Every day, people come here for the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara, and there is always a huge crowd daily.
But on Tuesday night, chaos and sorrow spread in this spiritual place. It is said that the crowd increased so much that near the pass token counter area, 6 people lost their lives and more than 30 people were injured.
Every year, lakhs of people visit the Venkateswara Temple, and there is hardly any day when the crowd is less. But this time, because of this same crowd, some devotees lost their lives, and some got injured, which created tension all around.
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How the Incident Happened in Venkateswara Temple?
This accident happened on Tuesday night when thousands of devotees were standing in line at night to see Lord Venkateshwara. Because of the heavy crowd and the excitement to get darshan of the Lord, people became out of control, and near the laddu token counter, people started to panic and became restless to get darshan.
People were so eager to get darshan that they started pushing each other to reach the entry gate as soon as possible. Within a short time, this situation became worse, and some devotees fell on the ground due to pushing, and people started walking over them to move forward.
To get darshan of Venkateshwara, devotees did not even think that they were stepping on someone, hurting them, and even killing them. Because of this, 6 people died, and many people got injured.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Statement
TTD is the management department of Venkateswara Temple. After this accident, they expressed sadness and confirmed that in this incident, 6 people lost their lives and more than 30 people were injured, after which they were immediately taken to the hospital.
After this terrible incident, the Andhra Pradesh Government ordered a high-level inquiry. The Chief Minister expressed condolences to the families of the victims and announced compensation for the families. He said,
“The safety of devotees is our top priority. Strict action will be taken on this negligence.”
Timeline of the Event
- Thousands of people came at night to get darshan of Lord Venkateshwara.
- Around 8:30 PM, the token counter became overcrowded, and devotees started pushing each other to get the entry pass.
- Around 9:00 PM, when the crowd became completely out of control, the staff reached there to handle the situation.
- Around 9:15 PM, a push came from the back side, which disturbed people’s balance, and some fell on the ground.
- Around 9:30 PM, police and volunteers came to rescue the devotees and took them to the hospital.
- The next day, it was found that among those taken to the hospital, 6 devotees had died.
This news slowly spread everywhere, and people were shocked after hearing it. The same people who had come for the darshan of God became the reason for each other’s death. Some local people said that Tirumala’s management is becoming weaker day by day. Someone said,
“There were no clear instructions there. People were repeatedly pushing each other trying to go inside, but no staff was taking control of them.”
Temple stampedes have happened many times before too, and people have lost their lives. Now the question arises — in such places where lakhs of people come for the darshan of God, how can the security be so weak?
At such places, the security management should be very strong. There should be clear instructions and barriers everywhere. If anyone pushes others, he should be immediately removed from the queue. But because of the lack of these things, such accidents happen in India.
- In 2008, at Naina Devi Temple, which is in Himachal Pradesh, the same type of incident happened, and 140 people died.
- In 2011, at Sabarimala Temple, 102 devotees were killed.
- In 2013, at Ratangarh Temple, because of a stampede, 115 people lost their lives.
Government Action
- After the incident, the Andhra Pradesh Government immediately ordered an inquiry.
- ₹5 lakh compensation was given to the families of victims.
- Injured people will get free medical treatment.
- More CCTV installations were ordered.
The Tirupati Temple tragedy broke everyone’s hearts. People go with so much devotion to get the darshan of God, and then hearing about such incidents makes everyone’s heart stop. May God give peace to the souls of all those devotees.
