“There was a sudden crowd surge of devotees for having a glimpse of the Hindu deities during which few people either fainted, felt suffocated or complained of breathlessness,” said Siddharth Shankar Swain, the top government official in Puri, AP reported.
Swain said that 15 people were rushed to a local government hospital, where three people were pronounced dead and the other 12 were discharged. Autopsies are planned for the deceased to determine the exact cause of death.
Tens of thousands of devotees gathered in the coastal town early Sunday at Shree Gundicha Temple near the famous Jagannatha Temple to catch a glimpse of the deities onboard three chariots, Swain said.
The coastal temple town of Puri comes alive each year with the grand “Rath Yatra,” or chariot festival, in one of the world’s oldest and largest religious processions. The centuries-old festival involves Hindu deities being taken out of the temple and driven in colorfully decorated chariots.
The festival is one of Hinduism’s most revered events and draws hundreds of thousands of devotees annually from across India and the world.