The tragic stampede at the Kasibugga Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, which claimed 10 lives during Ekadashi celebrations, has once again turned the spotlight on India’s recurring crowd-control failures. Over the past two decades, hundreds of people have lost their lives in similar incidents, exposing serious lapses in planning, policing, and public safety during large gatherings.
2025: A year marked by multiple stampedes
The year 2025 alone has witnessed several major tragedies. On June 4, 2025, celebrations turned deadly in Bengaluru when an RCB victory parade near Chinnaswamy Stadium led to a stampede that killed 11 people and injured dozens. On May 3, a stampede during the Sri Lairai Devi Temple festival in Shirgao village, Goa, killed six devotees and injured around 100 others.
Just weeks before that, 18 people, including women and children, died at New Delhi Railway Station on February 15 while waiting for trains to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh. Maha Kumbh also bore witness to another tragedy on January 29, when 30 pilgrims died at the Sangam. On January 8, six devotees were crushed in the Tirumala token centre while queuing for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam.
2024: Hathras and Hyderabad tragedies
The Hathras stampede in July 2024 stands as one of the deadliest in recent memory, with over 100 people killed during a ‘satsang’ led by self-styled godman Bhole Baba. Earlier that year, a stampede at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre during the screening of Pushpa 2 killed one woman and critically injured a child—underscoring that crowd disasters extend beyond religious gatherings.
2023–2022: Religious gatherings turn fatal
A slab collapsed over an ancient well during a Ram Navami havan in Indore on March 31, 2023, killing 36 devotees. A year earlier, on January 1, 2022, 12 pilgrims lost their lives at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir amid the New Year rush.
2017 to 2015: Urban infrastructure under pressure
In 2017, Mumbai saw a horrific incident when 23 commuters died on the narrow Elphinstone Road footbridge, sparking nationwide debate on railway crowd safety. On the opening day of the 2015 Pushkaralu in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, a stampede at the crowded Godavari riverbank trampled 27 pilgrims to death as thousands of devotees surged forward. Kasibugga temple stampede is also one such incident.
2014–2010: Festivals turn to horror
Between 2010 and 2014, a series of fatal crowd surges underscored India’s recurring pattern of neglect.
- October 2014 (Patna): 32 people were killed at Gandhi Maidan after Dussehra celebrations.
- October 2013 (Madhya Pradesh): 115 devotees died during Navratri near Ratangarh Temple when rumours of a collapsing bridge triggered panic.
- November 2012 (Patna): 18 people died during Chhath Puja after a makeshift bridge gave way.
- November 2011 (Haridwar): Stampede at Har-ki-Pauri Ghat claimed the lives of 20 pilgrims.
- January 2011 (Sabarimala): 1A jeep rammed into 104 pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala’s Idukki district.
- March 2010 (Pratapgarh, UP): A stampede at Ram Janki Temple killed 63 people, mostly women and children, when devotees rushed to collect free food and clothes.
2008–2003: The dark decade of temple disasters
Several of the most catastrophic stampedes in Indian history occurred during the late 2000s, leaving a lasting impact on public safety protocols and crowd management awareness.
- September 2008 (Jodhpur): Between 220 and 250 people died at the Chamunda Devi Temple after rumours of a bomb blast.
- August 2008 (Himachal Pradesh): 162 devotees perished at Naina Devi Temple due to false reports of a landslide.
- January 2005 (Satara, Maharashtra): A massive tragedy at Mandhardevi Temple claimed 340 lives, one of India’s worst-ever religious disasters.
- August 2003 (Nashik, Maharashtra): 39 people were killed during the Kumbh Mela holy bath.
A repeated warning ignored
Experts say that while India has developed disaster response mechanisms, its crowd management protocols remain reactive rather than preventive. Lack of infrastructure, poor coordination between temple committees and police, and failure to limit crowd density continue to claim lives year after year.
Crowd safety specialists have urged authorities to adopt real-time monitoring, digital ticketing, and AI-based crowd flow systems at major religious and public events. However, despite repeated tragedies, enforcement remains weak. Kasibugga temple stampede is one such example.
As India mourns yet another temple tragedy in Srikakulam’s Kasibugga, the pattern of preventable deaths raises a painful question:
How many more stampedes will it take before crowd safety becomes a national priority?
