Rituals at North Goa temple continue day after deadly stampede

Panaji: A day after six people lost their lives in a stampede, rituals continued at the Sree Lairai Devi temple in North Goa on Sunday, with the temple committee appealing to people to refrain from visiting the area.

A stampede broke out in the wee hours of Saturday after thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes leading up to the temple in Shirgaon village for the annual festival.

Hundreds of devotees, however, visited the village on Sunday, walking at least 2 km to take part in the ritual wherein the goddess visits the houses of locals.

The ritual is observed a day after the "Homkhand" event, during which a massive fire is lit, and devotees walk on embers.

Talking to PTI, Dinanath Gaonkar, president of the Shree Lairai Devi Temple Committee, said it wasn't possible to stop the ritual of 'kaul', during which the goddess visits the homes of the locals for four days before returning to the temple.

"The incident on Saturday was unfortunate. Lives were lost. But we can't stop the rituals," he said.

Gaonkar said the temple committee had made a public appeal to devotees to refrain from visiting the village.

"The police have also placed barricades in Assanora village en route to Shirgao to prevent vehicles from entering the area," he said, adding that many have still arrived for the ritual on foot because of their faith in the goddess.

Interestingly, despite the temple committee's appeal, stalls set up for the festival remained functional.

One of the locals said, "You cannot stop people from attending the festival, as Devi Lairai is a revered deity with disciples across Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka."

With PTI inputs