All-faith prayer in memory of Odisha train accident victims

Hundreds of people will pay tributes to the departed souls and offer prayers for the recovery of the injured, said social activist Sarat Raj.Debajyoti Dasmohapatra, another member of the organising committee, said though the deceased persons were not known to the local people, they consider them as near and dear as they breathed their last in the Bahanaga area.

Hundreds of people from Odisha’s Bahanaga took part in an all-faith prayer meeting in memory of the 288 people who lost their lives in the Balasore train accident on June 2. Odisha Energy minister PK Deb, who was also present on the occasion, prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

The prayer meet was held near Bahanaga High School where bodies of passengers of the ill-fated Coromandel Express and Balgalore-Howrah super fast train were kept.

According to Jaykrushna Sarangi, one of the organisers of the prayer meet, the objective of performing 'Dasaha Karma' (10th-day ritual) on Sunday and 'Ekadashas' (11th-day ritual) on Monday was for the salvation of the deceased.

''Since we do not know the religion of the deceased, we decided to organise the all-faith prayer meet,'' he said, adding that spiritual leaders of different religions were present at the all-faith prayer meet.

Apart from all faith prayer, arrangements are also made for 'Biswa Shanti Maha Yagna' (havan for world peace) and chanting of Veda along with 12-hour 'mantra japa' has begun near the accident site by members of Gayatri families from four districts.

''The prayer meet will continue for three days. Hundreds of people will pay tributes to the departed souls and offer prayers for the recovery of the injured,'' said social activist Sarat Raj.

Debajyoti Dasmohapatra, another member of the organising committee, said though the deceased persons were not known to the local people, they consider them as near and dear as they breathed their last in the Bahanaga area. ''I have feed water to at least eight people before they died. I feel to have some kind of relationship with them in previous birth. Therefore, I tonsured my head as a mark of respect to the deceased person,'' a local youth said. There are also plans to light 5,008 'dias' (lamps) and perform a 'Maha Yagna'.