In Nalanda, faith turned fatal

On March 23, erstwhile the results of the Bihar School Examination Board for Class 12 were announced, Kundan Kumar, a 20-year-old nonmigratory of Mathurapur colony successful Noorsarai municipality successful Bihar, was thrilled. He had secured 65%, which meant helium achieved a archetypal division. His mother, Rekha Devi, 45, was overjoyed too, and handed him ₹1,000 to bargain caller books. A fewer days later, the household visited the Sheetla Mata temple successful Maghra colony of Nalanda district, astir 10 kilometres away, to connection their prayers and observe Kundan’s success.

According to temple clergyman Shubham Kumar, 30, Sheetla Mata is considered an avatar of Goddess Durga successful Hinduism, arsenic mentioned successful the spiritual text,Skanda Purana. The temple, dispersed implicit 1.5 acres, attracts devotees who judge that bathing successful the chill waters of its pond tin assistance cure tegument diseases.

On March 31, the time Kundan’s household went to the temple, the assemblage grew quickly. It was the past Tuesday of the Chaitra period successful the Hindu calendar, believed to beryllium a important time for spiritual practices, peculiarly for worshipping Goddess Durga. Locals accidental that connected immoderate regular day, 500-1,000 devotees sojourn the temple. However, according to the police, much than 10,000 radical had gathered for the peculiar prayers that day.

This sudden surge led to a stampede betwixt 9:30 and 10:00 a.m., claiming 9 lives, including Rekha Devi’s. Eight were women, and 1 was an unidentified man. Most of the victims were from Nalanda.

Rekha Devi’s daughter, 24-year-old Sharmila Kumari, who got joined past month, had besides accompanied her parent to the temple.

“My parent was the 1 who utilized to instrumentality attraction of america due to the fact that our begetter is mentally ill,” Sharmila says. “He has been undergoing attraction astatine the Central Institute of Psychiatry [in Kanke, Ranchi] for the past decade.” Following the incident, she worries not lone astir her father, but besides her 2 younger brothers.

Kundan clutches the caller books to his chest, weeping. “My parent ever encouraged maine to survey and go a large authorities serviceman truthful that our fiscal load would lessen,” helium says. “All she did was spell to pray. She ne'er returned.”

Kundan’s biggest regret is that helium was not wrong the temple; helium was lasting extracurricular erstwhile the incidental took place.

The anatomy of a stampede

Sharmila, her hubby Vijendra Kumar, Rekha Devi, and Kundan reached the temple astatine astir 8:30 successful the morning, Sharmila recalls. They bought flowers for the puja and joined the crowd.

Sharmila says determination was nary due queue. Only she and her parent went wrong the temple, portion her member and hubby stayed outside. Although men are allowed to participate the temple, it is mostly women who travel to worship.

At 9:30 a.m., they yet entered. Within minutes, determination was chaos. She saw radical pushing 1 another. Then idiosyncratic yelled, “Mar gayi, mar gayi (She is dead, she is dead).”

“People started falling implicit each other,” Sharmila says. “My parent besides fell down. I could not recognize what was happening. Hundreds of radical were astir me, and they were each shouting the names of radical they were with.”

In the melee, she mislaid show of her mother. “People pushed maine into a corner, but my parent was near successful the mediate of the crowd,” she says.

After immoderate time, she began searching for her parent adjacent the exit. By then, Kundan had recovered his sister.

About fractional an hr later, locals and devotees began pulling retired bodies lying wrong the temple premises conscionable a fewer meters distant from the interior sanctum. Rekha Devi was among them. They rushed her to the Biharsharif Sadar hospital, astir 6 km away, connected a scooter, arsenic nary ambulance had arrived. “The doctors declared her brought dead,” Sharmila says.

Sharmila is arsenic grief-stricken arsenic she is angry. She says determination was not a azygous constabulary idiosyncratic successful sight, either wrong oregon extracurricular the temple to negociate the crowd.

She besides alleges that a temple clergyman was taking wealth from devotees and allowing them to participate done the exit gate. “Because of this, the exit gross besides got blocked,” she says.

Trapped inside

Punam, who had gone to the temple with her mother, alleges that erstwhile chaos broke out, authorities unopen the gates and enactment up bamboo barricades, worsening the situation. She claims that some the entranceway and exit were blocked.

She had gone to observe scoring 63% successful the Bihar School Exam Board. “My parent had promised we would sojourn the temple if I passed with a archetypal division. Within minutes of reaching, I mislaid her,” she says.

Dinesh Rajak mislaid his wife, Rita Devi, 50, successful the stampede. A begetter of six and a nonmigratory of Sakunat locality successful Biharsharif, helium came to cognize astir the incidental lone immoderate 2 hours later.

Dinesh, who earns a surviving by going from 1 colony to different selling spices, says his woman and girl had gone to the temple that time without mobile phones. “At astir 12:30 [p.m.], I received a telephone from an chartless number,” helium says. “I heard my girl crying. She told maine that her parent had fainted successful the temple and had been taken to Sadar hospital.”

He rushed there. “I recovered my girl lasting extracurricular the postmortem centre. My wife’s assemblage was lying inside.”

For 55-year-old Arjun Singh, a rootlike seller, calamity has struck doubly successful the past fewer years. In 2024, Arjun mislaid his 2nd lad successful a bid accident. And connected March 31, helium mislaid his woman successful the stampede.

Nine household members had gone to the temple astatine astir 7:30 a.m., helium says. At the entranceway of the sanctum, determination was a pothole, Arjun recalls. “We did not spot it arsenic we were looking ahead. As soon arsenic we stepped in, much than a 100 radical fell implicit us.”

He adds, “For astir an hour, we were successful pain. Nobody came to help. My woman died connected my lap.” Arjun has filed a First Information Report against the temple clergyman for allegedly allowing introduction successful speech for money.

“Had the constabulary oregon temple absorption made due arrangements, galore lives would person been saved and the incidental could person been avoided,” asserts Arjun, a begetter of five.

The aftermath

While 9 radical died successful the incident, 12 others were injured and admitted to Sadar hospital.

Priti Devi, 30, who is recovering from injuries, says the temple is located connected a constrictive lane lined with shops selling flowers and prasad, which delayed the ambulance from reaching the site.

Mukesh Kumar, a nonmigratory of the area, says those who fainted were archetypal taken to a adjacent Urban Health and Wellness Centre.

Auxiliary Nurse Midwife Sumitra Sinha, 45, who was connected work astatine the centre, says astatine slightest 12 radical were brought in. “One pistillate was brought dead,” she says. “For the others, we checked humor pressure, provided ORS (oral rehydration solution), water, and administered CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation ) wherever needed.”

Pankaj Kumar, whose sister Anushka Sinha, is besides hospitalised, says helium was capable to withstand the unit of the crowd, but his sister could not. Before the stampede, determination was not a azygous policeman around, helium says. “After an hr of the stampede occurring, hundreds of policemen reached the site.”

Another nonmigratory of the area, Alok Ranjan (46), alleges that astir of the constabulary had been deployed successful Rajgir. They had been sent determination for the sojourn of President Droupadi Murmu, who had arrived to be Nalanda University’s convocation. Later, Murmu expressed her condolences and prayed for the speedy betterment of the injured.

Soon aft the stampede, respective elder authorities officials visited the spot, including Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Vinay Kumar; Nalanda Superintendent of Police (SP) Bharat Soni; District Magistrate Kundan Kumar; Inspector General (Central Range), Patna, Jitendra Rana; and Director General (Operations) Kundan Krishnan.

Following reports of information lapses successful their area, Soni suspended Deep Nagar SHO Rajmani and 4 different constabulary officers. The authorities besides acceptable up a Special Investigation Team to probe the incident.

On March 31 night, the constabulary conducted raids and arrested 4 temple priests — Anuj Kumar, Awadhesh Kumar Mishra, Vivekanand Pandey, and Niranjan Kumar Pandey. They person been charged nether Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and person been sent to judicial custody.

So far, 40 radical person been booked successful the lawsuit for violating information norms and alleged mismanagement during the spiritual gathering. However, locals assertion that respective of those booked were not contiguous astatine the tract during the stampede.

Crowd absorption concerns

Locals and officials accidental mediocre assemblage power was a large crushed for the incident.

“The temple absorption should person anticipated the overcrowding and taken peculiar care,” says 1 resident. “The operation should person been built to transmission the assemblage safely.”

Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar says, “As soon arsenic I got accusation astir the stampede, I rushed to the tract and inspected the premises. We recovered galore lapses. Even a assemblage of 1,000 radical would person been hard to manage. That day, determination were astir 10,000 people.” He adds that the temple’s operation was not capable for ample gatherings and recommended a information audit for temples wherever ample crowds assemble.

Initial investigations excessively person recovered inadequate assemblage absorption and mediocre arrangements to beryllium the reasons for the tragic incident. The chairperson of the Bihar State Religious Trusts Board, Ranvir Nandan, visited the temple the time aft the incidental and admitted that determination were lapses connected the portion of the temple management.

“It is the work of the temple absorption to clasp discussions and chalk retired a program to negociate crowds earlier immoderate ample spiritual gathering. I volition guarantee that this temple is registered nether the Board, which volition look aft the temple management,” Nandan says. According to 2025 data, the Board monitors astir 2,500 registered temples and trusts. The Board has besides identified 2,512 unregistered temples and mutts successful Bihar.

After the incident, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced ₹6 lakh for victims’ families — ₹4 lakh from the Disaster Management Department and ₹2 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Prime Minister Narendra Modi besides expressed his condolences and announced ₹2 lakh successful fiscal assistance to beryllium paid to the families from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, and ₹50,000 to the injured.

All the affected families person received ₹6 lakh each from the District Magistrate’s bureau aft postmortem reports confirmed that the deaths were owed to compressive asphyxia.

Dinesh Rajak, who mislaid his wife, says helium would prevention the compensation helium has received, for his youngest daughter’s marriage.

Incidents similar these person happened earlier successful Bihar. On November 19, 2012, arsenic galore arsenic 22 radical were killed astatine Adalatganj Ghat successful Patna during the Chhath festival. A stampede astatine Gandhi Maidan successful Patna claimed 33 lives during the post-Ravan Vadh programme connected October 3, 2014, and 3 radical died successful a stampede astatine Begusarai’s Simaria Ghat connected November 4, 2017.

The time aft the 2026 incident, devotees remained undeterred though the assemblage was smaller than accustomed astatine the Sheetla Mata temple.

Sushma Kumari, 45, who came to connection prayers connected April 1, says, “I heard astir the tragic incidental successful which respective women were killed astatine the temple, but I could not halt myself from visiting. They each died connected the thigh of Sheetla Mata. I volition commune for their souls.”