AT least 15 people have lost their lives in two separate incidents in eastern India on Monday while paying homage to the Hindu deity Shiva during the sacred month of Shravan, officials have confirmed.
In West Bengal state, a fire at a hotel in Tarapith claimed the lives of eight devotees who had travelled to the pilgrimage site to offer prayers on the final Monday of Shravan, a holy month dedicated to Shiva that draws enormous crowds of worshippers.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, but West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari expressed profound grief over the tragedy.
“Words cannot adequately express the grief I feel for the families who have lost their loved ones,” Mr Adhikari said in a statement.
In neighbouring Bihar, seven pilgrims were crushed to death and 19 others injured when a stampede broke out at the Ashok Dham temple in Lakhisarai district. The chaos was reportedly triggered by rumours that an electric pole had fallen on devotees inside the temple premises, district magistrate Shailendra Kumar told the AFP news agency.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary described the incident as “heart-wrenching” and announced compensation of 400,000 rupees (approximately $4,180) for each victim’s family.
Deadly stampedes are a common occurrence at large Indian gatherings and religious festivals, with poor crowd management frequently cited as a contributing factor. One of India’s worst recent crowd disasters occurred in 2024 in Uttar Pradesh, where 120 people died during a religious gathering attended by tens of thousands of devotees.
The twin tragedies on Monday have cast a pall over the final day of Shravan observances, as authorities face renewed scrutiny over safety measures at religious sites across the country.
