Mass ‘mundan’, all faith prayer for Odisha train accident victims

Balasore, June 11

People from all walks of life congregated at Bahanaga in Odisha’s Balasore district on Sunday, the 10th day of the train accident, to pray for the speedy recovery of the injured and ‘Mukti’ (salvation) of 288 who lost their lives in the June 2 crash.

Apart from villagers, people who retrieved the bodies and rescued the injured from the ill-fated Coromandel Express and Bengaluru-Howrah trains performed “mundan” (head tonsuring) as per Hindu death rituals.

Social and cultural activists and members of spiritual organisations also participated in the memorial service being held for three days near the premises of Bahanaga High School, where bodies were kept before being shifted to Bhubaneswar.

People from Soro block comprising Bahanaga town organised the service and an all-faith prayer meeting to pay homage to the deceased.

‘Biswa Shanti Maha Yajna’, ‘Astaprahari Nama Sankirtan’, ‘Akhanda Gayatri Mantra’ will be performed on the 11th day on Monday and a ‘Satsang’ and candle light march are scheduled on Tuesday, Jaykrushna Sarandi, a member of the organising committee, said.