Date | 14 January 2011 |
---|---|
Location | Pullumedu, Sabarimala, Kerala, India |
Coordinates | 9°27′48″N77°05′37″E / 9.463307°N 77.093717°E |
Deaths | 106 |
Non-fatal injuries | 456 |
The 2011 Sabarimala stampede was a crowd crush (often incorrectly described as a ' human stampede') on 14 January 2011, Makara Jyothi Day at Pullumedu near Sabarimala in Kerala, India. It broke out during an annual pilgrimage, killing 106 pilgrims and injuring about 100 more declared later as "National disaster". [1] The pilgrims were returning from a Hindu shrine on the last day of a yearly festival which attracts millions of devotees. It began after a Jeep toppled over.
Makara Jyothi is a star which is worshiped by pilgrims in huge numbers at Sabarimala Temple in Kerala on Makara Sankranti on 14 January every year. It is believed that the deity Ayyappan asserts himself as Makara Jyothi to bless his devotees.
The crowd crush is the worst recorded accident to have occurred in Sabarimala. In the past on 14 January 1952, 66 Ayyappa pilgrims were burnt to death when two fireworks sheds caught fire, while on the same day in 1999, 52 pilgrims were killed following a crowd crush during their return after witnessing the Makara Jyothi at Pamba. [2]
The two-month-long pilgrimage, which had started in November 2010, had been mostly incident-free before this crowd crush. [3]
The incident happened around 8 p.m. local time. Most of the dead were from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There are various versions of the accident as reported in various newspapers and television reports. The victims were going back home through the forest after Makara Jyothi darshanam, thought to be a celestial phenomenon on the hill shrine of the Hindu god Ayyappan. [3] The crowd crush was reportedly caused by an SUV which blocked the path, near Pullumedu, possibly after breaking down. When moved it may have overturned and caused people to stumble, triggering the stampede or by too many people running down the hill towards the road where there was already a pack of vehicles. There is a version of an accident between an autorickshaw and a Jeep. The real trigger of the incident remains a mystery given the fact that the spot where the stampede occurred is an open field.
Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan announced a judicial inquiry into the stampede tragedy and also announced a grant of ₹5,00,000 for families of each of the victims. [4] Prime minister of India Manmohan Singh offered condolences for the deaths and announced a compensation of ₹1,00,000 to the next of kin of the dead and ₹50,000 for those injured. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was sent to the scene. [3] Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced ₹1,00,000 to the family of each victim from Tamil Nadu. [5]
Ayyappan, also known as Dharmasastha and Manikandan, is the Hindu deity of truth and righteousness. His worship is more prevalant in South India. Although devotion to Ayyappan has been prevalent earlier, his popularity rose in the late 20th century. According to Hindu theology, he is the son of Vishnu in the form of Mohini and Shiva thus representing a bridge between Shaivism and Vaishnavism.
The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple is a Hindu temple that is devoted to the worship of a deity named Ayyappan, also known as Dharma Shasta. Ayyappan is believed to be the son of Shiva and Mohini. The temple is situated atop a hill in the village of Ranni-Perunad, within the Ranni Taluk of the Pathanamthitta district in the state of Kerala, India. The temple is surrounded by 18 hills in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimage sites in the world, with an estimate of over 10 to 15 million devotees visiting every year.
Makara Jyothi is a star worshiped by pilgrims at Sabarimala Temple in Kerala on Makara Sankranti every year. It is believed that the deity Ayyappan asserts himself as Makara Jyothi to bless his devotees.
Ayyanar is a Dravidian folk religion deity venerated in South India and Sri Lanka. His worship is prevalent amongst the rural Tamil people. Some studies suggest that Ayyanar may have also been worshipped in Southeast Asian countries in the past. He is primarily worshipped as one of the Village deities of guardian folk deities of Tamil Nadu. The temples of Ayyanar in the countryside are usually flanked by gigantic and colourful statues of him and his companions riding horses or elephants.
Cheerappanchira is an ancient noble Ezhava family renowned for its Kalari in Muhamma, Alappuzha District. According to legend, Lord Ayyappan came here to learn Kalaripayattu.
Makaravilakku is an annual festival held on Makara Sankranti in Kerala, India at the shrine of Sabarimala. The festival includes the Thiruvabharanam procession and a congregation at the hill shrine of Sabarimala. An estimated half a million devotees flow to Sabarimala every year to have a darshan (vision) of this ritual this day.
Maalikapurathamma is a goddess enshrined in a small temple at Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. The Maalikapurathamma Temple is visited after darshan of Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. Malikapurathamma Temple is in front of Manimandapam. The Pandalam royal family and their associates worship Malikapurathamma as a mother. Usually, everyone in the Pandalam royal family who visits Sabarimala stays in Malika behind Manimandapam. Long before this deity was placed on Malika for this deity was called Malikapurathamma. Usually in Kerala, the deity named as abode Ayyappan Swami grew up in Pandlam Palace at the age of 12. Ayyappan Swami worships Malikapurathamma as the goddess of pandalam family. Maalikapurathamma is this concept of the family of the goddess Madurai Meenakshi, the goddess of the Pandalam royal family.
Harivarasanam (ഹരിവരാസനം) is a Malayalam ashtakam in praise of lord Shiva sung as a lullaby to Lord Ayyappan at the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, situated in Kerala, India. The song became popular through the first stanza in the Keerthanam known as Hariharatmajashtakam (ഹരിഹരാത്മജാഷ്ട്ടകം).
The 2008 Naina Devi temple stampede occurred on 3 August 2008 in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. 146 people died and 150 were injured when they were crushed, trampled, or forced over the side of a ravine by the movement of a large panicking crowd. Witness accounts suggest that events were initiated after a rain shelter collapsed, which worshipers mistakenly took to be a landslide. There were as many as 3000 devotees at the temple because it was a sacred place in the holy month of Shraavana of the Hindu Calendar. According to Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer from the area, at least 40 of the victims were children.
A human stampede occurred on 30 September 2008, at the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, in which 224 people were killed and more than 425 injured. The 15th-century temple is dedicated to the goddess Chamunda Devi and is located within the premises of Mehrangarh Fort.
Sabarimala stampede is a human crowd crush that occurred at Sabarimala temple in the Indian state of Kerala in 1999. On 14 January 1999,, 53 people, the majority of them from outside Kerala, died in the crowd crush at the Pamba base camp caused by, among other things, the collapse of the sides of a hillock.
Thiruvabharanam is the sacred ornaments of Ayyappan, the presiding deity of Sabarimala temple. The ornaments are made of gold. It is believed that these ornaments are made at the orders of the Pandalam King, who adopted Ayyappan as his child. Thiruvabharanam is kept at Srambickal Palace, which is close to the Valiyakoikkal Temple, inside the Pandalam Palace premises. At the end of the pilgrim season every year, the ornaments are taken to Sabarimala as a procession and poojas are performed on the idol adorned with the ornaments. After the season, the ornaments are taken back to the Srambickal Palace for safe custody. Thiruvabharanam and the caskets are made available for darshan at Srambickal palace during the pilgrim season and at Valiyakoikkal Temple on the day of the procession.
Mahamaham Stampede was a disaster that occurred during the Mahamaham festival on 18 February 1992 around the Mahamaham tank located in the town of Kumbakonam in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. An estimated 50 people were killed in the stampede that left another 74 injured. The festival was attended by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha, who had a holy dip in the tank.
Ponnambalamedu is a summit in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District, Perunad grama panchayat, Kerala, India. It is located near the Sabarimala Ayyappan temple, where the annual Makaravilakku event is conducted in the presence of nearly half a million pilgrims annually.
The 2005 November Chennai stampede incident happened on 6 November 2005 in a school in Vyasarpadi on the outskirts of Chennai where relief supplies were distributed by the state government for people affected by severe flooding. There were 6 deaths in the accident, which left another 12 injured. The state government announced a compensation of ₹one lakh for all the victims and ₹15,000 for the injured.
Rajah Annamalaipuram Ayyappan Koil is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Ayyappa in Chennai, India. It is located at Raja Annamalaipuram, a coastal neighbourhood of Chennai.
On 10 April 2016 at approximately 03:30 AM IST, the Puttingal Temple in Paravur, Kollam, Kerala, India, experienced a fireworks accident after firework celebrations went awry. As a result, 111 people were killed and more than 350 were injured, including some with severe burns. The temple and at least 150 houses in the area of the temple were damaged by the blast. According to local reports and eyewitnesses, the explosion and fire were caused by sparks from a firecracker being used in a competitive fireworks display igniting fireworks in a concrete storehouse. About 15,000 pilgrims were visiting the temple to mark local Hindu celebrations during the last day of a seven-day festival of the goddess Bhadrakali.
Sabarimala is a temple dedicated to Shasta, in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, India. Women and girls of reproductive age have traditionally not been permitted to worship there, as Shasta is a celibate deity. The Kerala high court provided a legal justification for this tradition, and since 1991 onwards, women and girls were legally forbidden to enter the temple.
Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam (SASS) is an organization of Ayyappan devotees and an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar. It is a registered public charitable trust started on 13 November 2008 with headquarters at Pathanamthitta in Kerala. SASS aims to serve Ayyappa devotees in their pilgrimage to Sabarimala and inculcate dharmic values in them and their families and bring them together to further the larger aim of Hindu unity. SASS activities can be listed in 5S: Satsang, Swaadhyay, Seva, Samarasta and Sangharsh.
Mahalingapuram Ayyappan Temple or Mahalingapuram Ayyappan - Guruvayurappan Temples is an Ayyappan Temple located at Mahalingapuram in the neighbourhood of Nungambakkam in Chennai district in the state of Tamil Nadu in the peninsular India with the geographical coordinates of 13°03′23.0″N80°13′54.5″E and at an altitude of about 34 m above the mean sea level. This temple complex contains Ayyappan temple and Guruvayurappan temple adjacent to each other. And is built based on Kerala Architecture. Swamy Ayyappan appears to devotees as in a sitting posture on Srichakra with the symbol of chinmuthra, the height being about 2 ft. The temple is constructed in the year 1974.