The Mahamakham tragedy of February 1992 in Kumbakonam, wherein 48 persons died in a stampede and over 60 sustained injuries, continues to linger in the memory of many. Two years ago, Congress Legislature Party leader K. Selvaperunthagai made certain observations in the Assembly on the 1992 Mahamakham, in which Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and her aide V.K. Sasikala participated.
Recently, former Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police W.I. Davaram, in his memoir, Munnar to Marina: The Journey, gave his account of the sequence of events. In 1992, he was the Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order), handling the arrangements for the festival. Besides, four DIGs and 16 Superintendents of Police were part of the team that supervised the arrangements, with the help of about 12,000 police personnel and support forces from Home Guards, Fire and Rescue Services, and voluntary organisations.
Kumbh Mela of the South
Popularly known as Kumbh Mela of the South, the Mahamakham of Kumbakonam is celebrated once in 12 years, “when the stellar combination of the sun, full moon, Maham star and earth and the planet Jupiter come on a single line. The force of gravitation exerted by the combination of stellar objects brings forth a copious flow of holy water from each of the 20 springs which is considered to have spiritual powers to wash off sins,” said a report in The Hindu on February 18, 1992. The festival began on February 9 with the hoisting of the sacred flags at the Kasi Viswanatha Temple on the banks of the Mahamakham tank and at the Kumbeswara Temple and Naganathaswami Temple in the town. On February 18, the D-Day, utsavamurthis [the idols meant for procession outside the sanctum sanctorum] of Saivite and Vaishnavite temples were to be taken to the Cauvery for performing “special poojas and abhishekams” before the holy dip by devotees in the sacred waters of the Mahamakham tank during the auspicious time between 11.30 a.m. and 12.15 p.m.
Giving a description of the tank, Mr. Davaram says the waterbody covers an area of over six acres with 16 mandapams spaced out along the sides. It is “fed by underground springs which have their source in the nearby Arasalar river, a tributary of the Cauvery,” says the author, who had his first Mahamakham experience in 1980 when he was the DIG (Tiruchi Range). Besides, he had the “benefit of the schemes” prepared for the Mahamakhams of 1956 and 1968.
He says that senior government officers, including himself, had requested Jayalalithaa to grace the occasion as it was the first mega festival after she took charge in June 1991, while she was initially against participating in the event.
What is more important is how the tragedy occurred. According to him, “it was caused by the hasty descent of those waiting on the [northern] bank [which was the main exit point] getting in the way of those leaving the tank. This had resulted in the drowning of many pilgrims, those trying to get into [the] tank and as well as those trying to get out.”
But The Hindu reported on February 19, 1992: “It all started with surging by tens of thousands of devotees who had come not only for a holy dip in the tank, at the muhurtham time two minutes before noon on the occasion of the Mahamakham, but also to see the Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalitha. The stampede took place hardly 200 metres from a special bathing ghat where Ms. Jayalalitha was offering prayers.” (This was how her name was spelt then.)
‘Overcrowding and no proper exits’
Recording that the traditional entry [through the northern and eastern banks] and exit [through the southern and western banks] arrangements were given up when the Chief Minister’s visit was finalised a few days earlier, the newspaper’s report said the people were allowed to enter the tank by the northern and eastern banks. But there was no exit on the eastern bank, as the Chief Minister’s bathing ghat was put up there. There was no exit in most parts of the southern bank because of the presence of her convoy. This resulted in overcrowding of the tank without proper exits.
It went on to say: “To make matters worse, there was a police barricade near the Alamara Vinayagar Temple and the Navakanyamandapam on the northern bank, and the police prevented the people [from] proceeding either north or south. The huge crowd which surged near the barricade found that the policemen were wielding lathis at the people. At this time, a big section of the crowd started coming out of the overcrowded tank. When this section reached the Navakanyamandapam, it found that already there was a huge crowd in the area, unable to move in any direction. A sudden surge resulted in the stampede.”
Taken by surprise
The report added that “the police parties on either side of the barricade were taken by surprise. Men, women and children were pushed down and thousands just stepped over them. The panicky crowd tried to scale the iron grill of a house nearby and it collapsed, injuring some more persons.”
Jayalalithaa came to know of the tragedy only when she reached Chennai, which was acknowledged by Mr. Davaram and a former government official who had gone through the process of reconstructing the sequence of events.
When the tragedy triggered a huge political controversy, the blame fell on her, in view of her participation in the festival. A month later, Jayalalithaa, participating in the Assembly debate on the demands for the Police Department, contended that the entry and exit points were provided, as was done during the Mahamakhams in 1968 and 1980. It was estimated that 50 lakh devotees came for the 1992 festival.
“As the crowd was overflowing, the pillars and the iron grill of a compound wall of a nearby dharmasala, run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, collapsed. This created panic among the people who started running helter skelter, leading to the stampede and the consequent deaths,” said a report of The Hindu on March 20, 1992. However, this version was disputed by the VHP.
The family of each of the deceased was sanctioned ₹1 lakh, according to a report published by the Economic and Political Weekly in its issue of March 28, 1992.
Wiser by the 1992 episode, the authorities saw to it that the subsequent Mahamakhams in 2004 and 2016 went off smoothly. On both occasions, Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister.
