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BANGALORE
Mangalore temple performs yagas for Air India crash victims
About 110 families, of the 158 that fell victim to the horrific Air India plane crash at Bajpe on May 22, converged on Sunday at the Annapoorneshwari temple, 16 km from the crash site.
Updated : Jun 21, 2010, 10:56 AM IST
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The mood was sombre at the Annapoorneshwari temple in this temple town. And religion was no barrier as about 110 families, of the 158 that fell victim to the horrific Air India plane crash at Bajpe on May 22, converged on Sunday at the temple, 16 km from the crash site.
The families participated in the Chandrika yaga and Sanjivani Mruthyunjaya yaga that was performed to help the crash victims rest in peace and to pray to goddess Chandika, the goddess of good faith, to help the Bajpe airport ward off any such calamity in the future.
The two large yaga kundas in the courtyard of the temple was lit up with firewood and about 20 archaks and purohits performed the rituals of the yaga to the accompaniment of chanting of mantras of Sanjivani Mruthyunjaya. The yagas started at 8am and went on up to noon. A representative from each of the families gave away the arghya (ceremonial offering) to the departed souls and pray for their salvation.
“Our Hindu fraternity has organised this great humanitarian event to provide my brother (Mohammad Ishaq Rafique Ahmed) his rightful place in the abode of Allah. The yagas were conducted with a good heart and intentions. I am sure this divine help from my Hindu brothers would go a long way in helping my brother’s family bear the grief,” Ahmed’s brother said.
“I have been visiting this temple for many years but this was the first time that I could sense a difference. The yagas were an honest humanitarian mission,” said Joy Saldanha who had come from Kasargod to pray for his relative Rosly Shibu, a crash victim.
The temple had put up a separate enclosure for the Muslim fraternity to watch the proceedings of the yagas and also offer prayers in their tradition.
Asked about the motivation behind the yagas, organiser Jayaram Hegde said: “What motivation could be more than praying for the salvation for the souls of 158 passengers who died for no fault of theirs? As temple trustees it was our duty to provide divine guidance to the people who were grieving for their loved ones."
