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Devotee dies at Bankey Bihari temple, police rule out suffocation
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Mathura Shailesh Pandey categorically ruled out that the death was due to ‘suffocation’ on account of heavy crowd in the temple . He said the devotee suffered a cardiac arrest.
Agra A 68-year-old devotee from Mumbai died while resting on a ‘chabutara’ (platform) outside the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Bankey Bihari Temple in Vrindavan on Tuesday. Police said the devotee suffered a massive cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital but was declared dead by doctors.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Mathura Shailesh Pandey categorically ruled out that the death was due to ‘suffocation’ on account of heavy crowd in the temple .
“There is no truth in reports on social media alleging that the death was due to suffocation because of huge crowd pressure . The devotee was identified as Sunil (68) from Mumbai . He had ‘darshan’ at Sri Bankey Bihari Temple in Vrindavan and was resting at the ‘chabutara’ (platform) when he suffered a cardiac arrest,” said the SSP .
“The medical team present in the temple attended to him and and took him to hospital with help from police. The doctors there declared the devotee as dead. They indicated that the devotee died seemingly because of cardiac arrest,” he said .
Pandey appealed to the aged, ill and children to avoid coming to crowded temples in Mathura.
The Sri Bankey Bihari Temple management has also urged the ailing and aged to avoid visiting the temple these days .
“We have also urged devotees not to bring and throw ‘gulal’ (coloured powder) within Bankey Bihari Temple because inferior quality gulal causes allergy and is bad for those suffering from asthma,” said an advisory issued by the temple management
To note, there is a huge turnout of devotees and tourists in Mathura and Vrindavan where Holi celebrations are already on, it being a 40-day affair unlike other parts of the nation where Holi is celebrated for a day.
The Laddoo Holi at Sri Radha Rani Temple in Barsana saw inflow of about 10 lakh visitors, mostly devotees, who vied to catch hold of ‘laddoo’ showered on Sunday. Police officials admitted that it was an unusually heavy crowd and tested the arrangements . The devotees whose health deteriorated or those who suffered injuries were attended to by a medical team.
On Sunday too, a woman died in Barsana but SSP Shailesh Pandey again refused to accept it as death due to crowd pressure.
“The woman, identified as Nirmala (61), was from Mumbai and had reached Mathura on March 14. She was here for ‘Chaurasi Kos’ parikrama (circumambulation) in Braj area and lived in a lodge in Barsana. She complained of breathing problem and was taken to the community health centre on Sunday but as her condition did not improve, she was shifted to a higher health centre in Mathura where she died of heart failure. Her death had nothing to do with Laddoo Holi celebration in Barsana,” said SSP Pandey.
The footfall was even more massive on Monday when Barsanaplayed host to the famous Lathamaar Holi. There were incidents of chaos because of the large number of devotees reaching Radha Rani Temple located on a hillock to become part of Holi celebration. The celebrations shifted to Nandgaon on Tuesday for Lathamaar Holi of Braj.
To recall, on August 19, 2022, on the night of Janmashtami, two devotees were suffocated to death on account of crowd pressure at the sanctum sanctorum of Bankey Bihari temple . It revived the debate on the plight of devotees struggling to have a darshan of Sri Bankey Bihari and gave momentum to the demand for more space.
In 2023, the Allahabad high court passed direction to the state government to begin work for ‘Bankey Bihari Corridor’ to facilitate devotees to have safe ‘darshan’ at Sri Bankey Bihari Temple .
The high court had asked the government to proceed with development of Bankey Bihari temple corridor while holding that ‘safety of human life (devotees) is required to be treated as of utmost importance and the government is bound to make necessary arrangements.”
