Kedarnath Tragedy


The Hindu god Shiva was washed away by heavy flood. Thousands of pilgrims, priests, people were washed away too. Kedarnath temple is one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to the god Shiva. The temple is located on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand. It is now standing alone surrounded by death and destruction. The loss of human lives in the flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslide after heavy rainfall for 3 days since June 16 is amidst the worst in its history.

Instead of mourning the countless deaths, many god-believers are now getting deep into the euphoria because they’ve heard that a rock on the mountain prevented the Kedarnath temple from getting washed away during the horrifying flood..

Early Sunday, the tragedy began when a cloudburst happened upstream in the valley. What followed was incessant rains leading to huge floods that took everything along with them . A cloud burst happens when clouds come under huge pressure due to getting stuck in a valley. The result is them’ bursting’ thereby causing the entire water in them to drain down in an instant!
Due to this burst , huge rocks also broke away from the Kedar dome and started rolling in the valley. One of them apparently stopped just before the stone temple, thereby breaking the flow of the muddy water into two. This lead to shops, houses basically everything around the temple to be washed away in natures’ fury, but the temple survived!

Believers are busy thinking about the temple. How the almighty god apparently saved his temple and thus re-established the faith of his followers through this act! They thank god for saving the temple but they are not angry with god for destroying everything else and killing thousands of believers. They are not doubting about the existence of god, if there were a god, he would not have been so terribly monstrous.
Religion business will not be stopped at Kedarnath. The rock that fell from the mountain and saved the temple from being washed away is strongly believed by millions of people as an act of god. Now people will most likely start worshiping the rock. Blind beliefs are more crazy than flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides together. I thought Kedarnath tragedy would make people give up their faith in god, but in reality their faith became stronger than before. They’ve now got an extra idol to worship. The rock.

Comments

  1. naturalcynic says

    Just goes to show that Lord Shiva cares more about his statue than he cares about people. Too bad the people are too foolish to reciprocate.

  2. says

    Clouds get stuck in a valley and burst? Does the writer think they are balloons?

    A flash flood occurs when rain that fell over a wide area is concentrated into a valley.

    That’s religion all over: if it’s good, the deities get credit; if it’s bad, we ignore or explain it away. Can you say, “Confirmation bias.” children?

  3. bharat doshi says

    And bad things is that not a single priest, temples management come to help
    . They get huge amount” chdhava” from pilgrims. In the name of god they enjoy life . Stupid die

  4. Rohit Sharma says

    i hope one day u understand hinduism…a non believer can be a hindu and there are some non believers’ sects within hinduism who are very spiritual………….it is not about believing god ……..and this sect shaivism ……is also not like muslim sects or christianity………
    SPIRITUALITY is different from RELIGION

    hope u understand

  5. kevinalexander says

    God didn’t kill anyone! He rewarded their piety by helping them along to the next incarnation.

  6. Sarita says

    Rocking religion-business indeed !!!
    now as the market area of Kedarnath is wiped away by flood & cloudbursts, businessmen must be more eager to start a new business out of massacre, i.e the Worshipping of the rock saving the main temple of Shiva. That’s how religion or its guardians make ppl fool and provoke to indulge more into this nonsense . Hinduism is totally based on Rockism.. where there is a rock, lets worship it as Shiva or any one of the 33crs dieties. This illogical awe or stupidity brought Babri-demolition, arrival of ShivSena and Rammandir demand by BJP…men of politics make profit out of Religion and men of businessmen make it a all-season Whole-Sale thing !!!
    Thus Kedar tragedy brings more pity for religious belief than to evoke lamentation for the deadbodies.

  7. Surbhi Srivastava says

    We Have only killed millions due to Global Warming and Corruption In India…………..

  8. F [is for fluvial] says

    but they are not angry with god for destroying everything else and killing thousands of believers.

    Er, well, in this case it is Siva we are talking about. I expect the followers of Siva are more or less OK with him going about his normal business. The don’t call him Siva the Destroyer for nothing.

  9. Funkopolis says

    To be fair, the rock has protected the area from dragons, rabid unicorns, and flying laser reindeer for centuries, so it’s mystical properties have already been well established. This is just yet another feather in it’s cap. If it was a Catholic village, it would be “St. Rock” by now.

  10. saffron says

    thanks ,an atheist written on Kadernath .was it a cloud blast or man creation ? believer believes massacre due to dhari devi.
    feel sad to those family who lost their own.

  11. Kiran Ram Ranjitkar says

    Let’s not think about god b’caz np one can infact relate to it. Think about human loss. take care of the people, not the god.

  12. Himadri says

    Mad……aaaaam……Why don”t u concentrate on your own religion. You have no right to hurt an “iota” of sentiment of other religion.

  13. F [is for fluvial] says

    why dont you write something about your own God ..?

    Why don”t u concentrate on your own religion.

    Well, for one, Taslima and most of the people who read here have given up religions and gods. We find them all equally appalling. Two: (and this is the important bit) Taslima and anyone else can talk about anything they want, including various religions.

    People are what is important, not gods. Only some believers are too wrapped up in worrying about their religion and its accoutrements to grasp this. Further, a real miracle would look like this: The temple rises up and blocks the flood from killing people and destroying the town. (Maybe not in Siva’s case, but why would he bother to preserve his temple? Or maybe the Vishnu the Preserver aspect of Vishnu stepped in. Gods work in mysterious ways. Or don’t.)

  14. Satish Gupta says

    The quoted source is inaccurate. I actually suspect that the source has no idea of geography around the temple or how mountain/glacier terrain is like:
    “huge rocks also broke away from the Kedar dome and started rolling in the valley”

    Kedar Dome peak is way too far away for a boulder of the size that is now lodged behind the temple to break from it and come all the way to the temple. Here is a realistic explanation.

    Of course, focus on temple surviving is even more perverse. Temple, if damaged, can be rebuilt, but people who have died can’t be brought back. That loss is permanent, and that pain will be ever lasting for their loved ones. With 5000+ missing officially declared dead, there will so many who would never get closure. That is the tragedy that so many people are making an honest effort towards rescue and rehabilitation. Instead of these people who are contributing positively in the face of this tragedy, Taslima chose to write about some perverse idiot. Of course, she is free to make that choice, but, in my opinion, that choice is no less idiotic.

  15. nazneer malloo says

    taslima mam…i like you a lot.. would have been more happy if you could have wrote just about pain and suffering to people and the way indian politician took it handy…nothing to worry about What lord shiva did in Kedarnath..it was just a natural calamatie..our govt ignored the warnings and took no safety measure and we died….it is not about not worshipping shiva or if he is called the lord destroyer….but it is about the nature……If it was just like Islamic god is powerful…if he was really so powerful…he could have saved 400 Shias death in macca..(that too with berber hands of Sunnis )- no nature here….if Jesus was really powerful he could have stopped cyclones and typhoons to avoid death..(it is american weather alert system which saved people..not jesus, not allah…) The thing is being atheist is one thing, being spiritual, being religious is another…you hate one religion and say things about it because you do not like the practices…and we know there are thousand reasons to justify us and devalue other if we dont understand a bit…do you think allah is so stubburn to devalue ahmaddiya people or any other religion…i like christianity and hinduism more..where you belive as you want and nobody cares …not like islam where you are bound to hell and women are treated like captives…i know women rights is mostly suffered in islamic countries and india(although india is improving but rural area is bad)..

  16. umang says

    Maam,

    We are no one to question the lord…he is the ultimate…we have to accept his decisions…either with grace or with tears….he is the father …the mother…and this world is illusion…a deception…still we have to complete our karma here….and we should , with excellence…till we are given the time….I strongly believe …” To live this life being his child and to die like one”….

    Regards

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