For most, faith rises above all

DEOGHAR/ RANCHI: The stampede, which took the lives of 10 devotees and caused severe injuries to several others, could not deter the faith of Shiv bhakts in Deoghar on the second Monday of shravani mela.
If sources are to be believed, more than 1.25 devotees have offered the holy water through arghya on Shivlingam today.
"Altogether 1. 25 – 1.5 devotees offered prayers and holy water on Shivlingam on Monday,"said Durlav Mishra, former general secretary of the Panda Dharma Rakshini Sabha.
"These incidents cannot deter us. Whatever the circumstances, we will not leave any stone unturned to offer ourprayers and holy water to the lingam”, a devotee Dilip Kumar Sharma from Jaipur said.
Others, however, were not all that brave. Raj Kishor Raut, who was looking for his younger brother Kamal (28) at the sadar hospital in Deoghar said, "The incident has forced us to re-think about our next visit to Babadham”.
Several devotees expressed their resentment against the shoddy arrangement of the Sadar hospital charging the health officials for not providing them with enough facilities.
Words failed the victims of the stampede, who were airlifted to the Ranchi and admitted to the state’s largest hospital, Rims.
The horror of the stampede and images of so many people running over them as they lay helplesss on the ground outside the temple on Monday morning has left a deep scar in the minds of the victims. "It was like a powerful storm which swept everyone away. I was one among the many people swept away. I was fortunate enough to have survived the tie of people crushing on to me,"Balram Pradhan, a survivor told TOIwith tears welling up in his eyes.
For Ravi Paswan (41), taking part in the annual shravani mela at Babadham in Deoghar will not be the same after Monday's stampede. He thinks it is because of 'baba's ashirwad' (Lord Shiva's blessing) that he is alive. Ravi, an autorickshaw driver in Jamshedpur, religiously takes part in the mela since he was 20. This year too he had wished to 'jal avishek' on the second 'somwari' (Monday).
Talking to this reporter over phone, Ravi said after collecting water from Ganga along with other 'kanwarias' he undertook the 105km-long journey on foot to perform 'jal avishek' on 'somwari' at Babadham. During the long march he was injured, when a sharp stone pierced his right foot.
The injury slowed his pace and initially Ravi was sad as he would not be able to perform puja on Monday at the scheduled auspicious time. Most of his friends (kanwarias) had marched ahead. When he heard the stampede news he was shocked, but did not forget to thank god as he could have been one of those killed, if only he was not injured in the way. "The cops deputed near the temple and on the way are not prepared to handle crisis situations,"said Ravi.
Recalling his earlier visits to the mela, spread across last 20years, Ravi said such incidents can happen any time.