LA day after six people lost their lives in a stampede at the Sree Lairai Devi temple in Shirgaon, North Goa, religious rituals continued on Sunday, with the temple committee urging devotees to avoid visiting the area.
The stampede occurred early Saturday morning when thousands of devotees gathered in the narrow lanes of the village for the annual “Homkhand” festival, where a large fire is lit and people walk on embers as part of a ritual.
Despite the tragedy, hundreds still walked nearly 2 km to take part in the ‘kaul’ ritual on Sunday, where the goddess is believed to visit the homes of locals over four days.
Temple committee president Dinanath Gaonkar said that while the loss of lives was tragic, the rituals could not be stopped. “We appealed to people not to come, but many still arrived on foot because of their deep faith,” he said.
Police have set up barricades in nearby Assanora village to block vehicles, but many devotees continued to make the journey. Meanwhile, stalls set up for the festival remained open.
Locals say the festival draws followers of Devi Lairai from across Goa, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, and the devotion is too strong to stop people from attending.
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