Kerala Temple Fireworks Explosion: A Timeline Of India's Tragic Events During Religious Functions

Stampedes at religious events and fireworks explosions during temple festivals have claimed many lives in the past. Here's an account of few such major accidents.

Hyderabad:Over 150 people were injured in a fireworks explosion during a festival at Anjoottambalam Veerarkavu temple at Nileswaram in Kerala's Kasagod district on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

Several incidents of stampedes and fireworks explosions have occurred at temples and religious gatherings across India in the last few years.

Here's a look at India's major temple tragedies in last decade:

• July 2024 : A stampede occurred at the conclusion of a satsang organised by a self-styled godman in Mughal Garhi village in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district resulting in 121 deaths, most of whom were women and children.
• March 2024: A five-year-old girl died in a stampede at the Kottankulangara temple in Kerala's Kollam district.
• March 2024: A stampede broke out during a pre-Holi event at the revered Shreeji Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district leaving six devotees unconscious.
• December 2023: Two women devotees died of suffocation due to overcrowding at Banke Bihari temple in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura.
• March 2023: Nearly 36 people died Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple caved-in during a Ram Navami 'havan' in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district.
• January 2023: Three persons died and 10 were injured after a crane collapsed during the Draupathi Amman festival that was being celebrated at Kilveedhi village in Nemili near Chennai.
• August 2022: A 65-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman died while seven devotees were injured in a stampede-like situation at the Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura.
• April 2022: At least 11 people were electrocuted and 15 others injured during a religious procession held by a temple in Tamil Nadu. The accident occurred when the temple chariot came in contact with a high-transmission live wire in Thanjavur district.
• January 2022: At least 12 people died and over a dozen were injured in a stampede at the famous Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.
• April 2019: Seven devotees were killed in a stampede during the Chitra Pournami festival at the Karuppasamy temple at Muthayampalayam village in Trichy. “It was ‘Pidikkaasu’, an event of collecting coins from the priest before the Lord Karuppasamy idol in the temple. As too many people tried to get ‘Pidikkaasu’ the stampede occurred,” a police official had said.
• April 2016: A total of 110 people were killed and 400 injured in a fireworks explosion at a temple complex in Kollam. The fire had raged on for hours before it was brought under control.
• August 2015: At least 11 people were killed and 50 injured in a stampede at Baidyanath Jyotirlinga in Jharkhand's Deoghar town. The incident occurred after pilgrims surged towards the building shortly after the doors were opened.
• July 2015: Twenty-seven pilgrims died and 20 others were injured in a stampede at a major bathing spot on the banks of the Godavari river, where a huge crowd of devotees had gathered on the opening day of 'Pushkaram' festival in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh.
• August 2014: Ten pilgrims were killed and over 20 injured when a rumour triggered a stampede at a temple in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district. The pilgrims were performing the 'parikrama' (circumambulation) of a hill near the Kamta Nath temple in Chitrakoot when the incident took place.

Among all states, Kerala has registered numerous such accidents.

Recent accidents at temples in Kerala:

• In February 2024: Two persons died and four were injured in a blast at a temporary shed where firecrackers were stored for a temple festival at Choorakkad in Tripunithura. The blast had damaged more than 30 houses of the locality.
• April 2016 : A fireworks display led to a huge explosion at Puttingal Devi Temple at Paravur leaving nearly 111 people dead and another 400 injured. The fire had raged on for hours before it was brought under control.
• January 2011: Nearly 106 pilgrims were killed and 100 injured during a stampede at Sabarimala shrine. The incident had occured when a jeep crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Idukki district. The pilgrims were coming to catch a bus when the stampede occurred.
• 2006: Seven people died in an accident that occurred at the room where firecrackers were stored for Thrissur Pooram.
• 1999: Eight persons were killed in a fireworks accident during Palakkad Alur Chamundikav festival.
• 1990: Firecrackers stored in Malanada temple caught fire leaving 26 people dead.

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