A deadly stampede has killed a group of Hindu worshipers heading to a religious event in northern India, police said. The crowd came out to pay their respect to a late Indian guru on the Ganges River.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Str
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Event organizers expected several thousand visitors for the Saturday ceremony, but were instead faced with a 70,000-strong crowd when the stampede started near the holy town of Varanasi, local police said.
At least 19 people were killed, and another 25 injured in the incident, officials told local reporters. State police chief Javeed Ahmed blamed overcrowding on a bridge for the disaster.
"Rumors about the bridge collapse led to chaos after a man fell down in a crowd," he told reporters.
The massive crowd was gathering near the Ganges for a religious ceremony honoring a local Hindu religious leader, Jai Baba Gurudev, who died in 2012. Gurudev is one of several self-styled "godmen" who enjoy a large cult-like following.
TV footage from the scene showed authorities trying to clear up the debris.
"There was a lot of chaos, all of us were pushed and shoved. Many people have died including my mother," a witness told reporters.
Deadly stampedes are fairly common in India, where police and volunteers are often overwhelmed by the number of worshipers at religious events. Last July, a stampede at a another religious ceremony killed 27 people in the south of the country, three years after a stampede in the central state of Madhya Pradesh claimed 115 lives.
A place to die
Indian Hindus and Jains flock to the city of Varanasi, or Banaras, to die on the banks of the holy Ganges River. Doing so, they believe, releases their soul from the damnation of reincarnation.
Image: DW/B. Das
Waiting for death
The ancient city of Kashi - also known as Banares or Varanasi - in Uttar Pradesh is considered to be the religious capital of India. It is considered so holy that if people die or cremated here, they attain spiritual liberation. Many people thus come here to wait for death.
Image: DW/B. Das
Salvation homes
People from different parts of India come to Varanasi to rent rooms in hotels, where they live out their last days. Moksha Bhawan, which means Salvation Home, is one such place where up to 100 people are renting rooms for a one-time payment of 800 – 1,200 USD. Some have lived here for 10 - 15 years.
Image: DW/B. Das
Spiritual Hospice
Mukti Bhawan is one such hospice where people come to rent a deathbed. They listen to Aarti, a special prayer ritual, three times a day and devotional songs are played from a stereo the entire day. The place charges 20 cents per day for a room where patients and families stay until they draw their final breath.
Image: DW/B. Das
Holy cremation
Manikarnika Ghat is the primary cremation ground for Hindus in Varanasi. It is believed that if one's body is burned here, then all sins are forgiven and the person attains release and can reside in heaven. Locals say that a funeral pyre burns at this spot every day, almost round the clock.
Image: DW/B. Das
No other retirement option
This couple lives at the Moksha Bhawan. They left their family home because of mistreatment by their son and daughter-in-law. Because they had nowhere else to go, they are renting a room here and live off of their meager savings.
Image: DW/B. Das
Salvation
It is believed that anyone who dies in Varanasi will attain salvation, which means that person will not be reborn. This woman has traveled from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to break her cycle of reincarnation.
Image: DW/B. Das
Cycle of life
These women spend the rest of their time on earth praying, talking, and tending to the garden. They say they are waiting for the end of human life at a holy place, so they can escape the cycle of birth and death.
