Andhra Venkateswara Temple Stampede Live Updates: PM Modi announces Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for families of those who died in Kasibugga temple stampede

According to officials, the temple owner, Hari Mukunda Panda, has been booked under charges of culpable homicide, and three aspects are being looked into.

One, a larger number of people than expected turning up. According to police officials, “the rush was very high and not enough measures had been made for crowd control”.

Deputy Superintendent of Police for Palasa town, where the temple is located, told The Indian Express, “The temple is privately owned. Whenever its owners request us to do security arrangements, we post some police there, but today’s rush was extraordinary,” he said.

Two, officials said the entry and exit points of the temple were the same. “The sprawling campus of the temple did not have separate entry and exit points. People were trying to leave the spot and enter the premises simultaneously,” a source said.

And three, the temple area where the stampede took place was under construction. “The railings and the structures meant for crowd control appear to have been makeshift. They gave way when the crowd pressed against them,” an official explained.

The Sri Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Kasibugga recently became famous as “chinna” (small) Tirupati since it is modelled after the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple, several officials, including Palasa Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajeshwara Rao, told The Indian Express.

Sources said that a landlord named Hari Mukunda Panda, who resides in Kasibugga, had a bitter experience several years ago at the Tirumala temple, when he was unable to perform darshan because he fell ill and security officials removed him from the queue, instructing him to visit the hospital. He was able to go inside the next day, but felt that after waiting for eight-nine hours, the darshan of only a few seconds was disappointing. “He vowed to build a temple dedicated to Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple,” Rao said.

When the recently widowed Eduri Chinnama from Rameshwara village in Srikakulam’s Tekkali mandal could not collect enough money to visit the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala to have her hair shaved, she went instead to the newly built Sri Venkateswara Temple at Kasibugga — little anticipating she would lose her life there.

“When she refused our help, someone suggested she visit the Kashibugga temple on the auspicious occasion of Karthik Ekadashi. She had decided to fast until she had darshan and must have felt weak by the time she queued up. She was among the 3-4 women who fell when the railing broke and were trampled upon,” said Swami, a family friend.

The 58-year-old, whose husband had worked as a driver and farm hand, was one of nine people killed in the temple stampede Saturday.

Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan posted on X: "It is extremely tragic that 9 devotees lost their lives in a stampede that occurred due to thousands of devotees thronging for darshan of Lord Venkateswara at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Palasa-Kasibugga town, Srikakulam district, on the occasion of Ekadashi. The fact that a child was also among them has deeply shaken us. The government will take all possible measures to ensure that the injured in this incident receive the best treatment. I hope they recover quickly. Expressing profound condolences to the families of the deceased, I assure them that the government will extend all kinds of support to them. I request the administrative machinery to regulate the crowds of devotees at temples across the state during spiritually significant days and ensure that no such accidents occur."

PM Modi said an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of those who lost their lives. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.

"Pained by the stampede in Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. My thoughts are with those who have lost their near and dear ones. I pray that the injured recover soon," he said.

Former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed deep shock and grief over the tragic stampede at the Kasibugga temple in Srikakulam district. He said it was heartbreaking that the devotees lost their lives in the incident and urged the government to immediately support the bereaved families and provide the best medical care to the injured.

In a statement, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that similar incidents had occurred earlier — six devotees died during Vaikuntha Ekadasi in Tirupati and seven more at Simhachalam temple. He said that despite repeated tragedies, the government has failed to take proper precautions and has acted with utter negligence. “This repeated loss of innocent lives reflects the inefficiency of Chandrababu Naidu’s administration,” he said, urging the government to take serious corrective measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

"The area where pilgrims were gathered was under construction and lacked basic strength" a top AP police official said.

"Usually on Saturdays, around 10,000-15,000 devotees visit. Today being ekadasi, there was an extraordinary rush of around 25,000 visitors. The temple has recently become very famous as 'Chinna Tirupati'( small Tirupati). Just like every Saturday, police was informed to make security arrangements," a temple official said.

The nine devotees who died in the stampede include two children.

A police official told The Indian Express that a railing in the queue appears to have given way since many devotees were jostling to move ahead, causing people to fall over each other.

A stampede took place at the Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibugga, Srikakulam district, leaving several people injured, a CMO statement read. The incident occurred as a large crowd gathered at the temple on the occasion of Ekadashi. The heavy rush of devotees led to overcrowding, resulting in a stampede.