News In The Name Of Religion
September 2008: New Delhi, India is reporting that a stampede of religious followers resulted in nearly 150 deaths at the start of a religious celebration on Tuesday, September 30th. The stampede at a temple in the state of Rajasthan in western India also injured 55 others.
A group of over 25,000 Hindu followers were moving toward the 15th-century Chamunda Devi Temple, when the stampede occurred in the early morning hours officials said. To get inside the Temple, devotees must navigate a narrow passage way and that is where the riot occurred as too many people flooded the entry way at once.
Hindus worship various forms of a Hindu goddess in a religious holiday known as Navaratri. The Holiday lasts nine days. Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters that police had prepared for the event but were overwhelmed by the huge numbers of people pressing forward to get to the temple.
In India it is not at all uncommon for the religiously fervent to erupt into freneticism during religious holidays. Just last month, more than 130 people were killed when worshippers tried to run from the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh state. The large crowd had been spooked by rumors of a landslide on the mountain where the temple is situated. The rumor turned out to be false.
Three years ago, in 2005 more than 250 people were trampled to death during a Pilgrimage turned stampede in the western state of Maharashtra.
