Hyderabad: Hari Mukunda Panda from Odisha, who built the Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Kasibugga, said on Saturday that no one was responsible for the stampede that killed 10 devotees and injured over a dozen others.
The 94-year-old Panda and other members of the temple management body have been booked under relevant sections of BNS Act for alleged negligence in handling the Kartika Ekadasi event when around 20,000 people had gathered at the temple located near in Srikakulam’s Palasa town.
According to Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, the management of the privately-built temple had not informed police or local authorities about the Ekadasi celebrations. “Had they informed us, we would have provided police protection and controlled the crowd. Because of this lack of coordination, ten people lost their lives and five were injured,” Naidu said on Saturday.
However, Panda described the tragedy as an ‘act of god’.
“Nobody is responsible — it was an act of god,” Panda told The Times of India.
The Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibugga owes its existence to the resolve of Panda.
He had a bitter experience several years ago when he could not visit the Tirumala temple as he fell ill and was removed from the queue by security officials. He managed to go inside for darshan a day after, but was disappointed with the few seconds he got after waiting for eight-nine hours.
“He vowed to build a temple dedicated to Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple,” Palasa DSP Rajeshwara Rao, told The Indian Express.
According to Revenue Department officials, Panda and his family own vast tracts of land in and around Kasibugga. It was then that he decided to sell off several acres of coconut groves to build the temple on 12 acres of farm land.
The temple, built with funds from Panda’s family, was inaugurated four months ago.
Panda wanted devotees who can’t go to Tirumala to have darshan at his temple which he claimed has a similar feeling and an almost similar look.
“I am an ardent and faithful devotee of Lord Sri Venkateswara, and this temple is dedicated to all the devotees,” he had said.
The temple has been drawing 1,000-2,000 visitors daily on an average, with approximately 5,000 devotees coming on weekends and holidays, according to officials.
The idol placed inside is similar to the one at Tirumala – 9 feet and 9 inches tall. The “Ekashila idol” was carved from a single stone after consultations with Vedic pandits of Tirumala, officials said.
Palasa MLA, Telugu Desam Party’s G Sireesha, visited the temple more than once, and said that it became famous very quickly. “Although it is privately owned, it is managed quite well. Today this stampede occurred, which is very unfortunate,” she said on Saturday.
Panda said he and the temple management team did not anticipate such a large crowd on Ekadasi.
“Thousands of devotees have visited since the temple opened, and there was never even a small untoward incident. Today, some of the devotees who came on this auspicious day met a terrible fate,” Panda lamented.