A Hindu devotee from Bihar ‘sacrificed’ his life by slitting his throat on premises of the famous Chinnamastika temple in Rajrappa in Jharkhand early on Tuesday.
Sanjay Nat (40), resident of Balihar village in Buxar, slit his throat with a dagger outside the temple’s Garva Griha after offering prayers around 6:20 am. He died in a pool of his own blood minutes later.
According to eyewitness accounts, Nat was among the handful of devotees who entered the temple to offer pujas after the shrine was opened for “darshan” around 6am following the customary rituals.
Temple priests, who were in and around the Garva Griha when the incident occurred, said Nat finished his puja and stood at a marble floored clearing, which gave a clear sight of the deity inside the Garva Griha.
“He was chanting some mantras to himself with closed eyes. Then all of a sudden, he took out a dagger which he was carrying, hidden in his gamcha (coarse towel) and slit his throat,” Subhashish Panda, general secretary of the Rajrappa Temple’s Panda (priest) Samiti said.
“A few devotees saw the incident and informed the priests. When they arrived, the man was lying in a pool of blood, dead,” Panda said.
A police team from Rajrappa police station rushed to the spot inside an hour. The corpse was taken away for post mortem. Atin Kumar, officer in charge of Rajrappa police station, said the man was only carrying a paper in his pocket which gave his name, residential address and telephone numbers of his family members. Nat’s father is a police constable in the Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) and is posted in Buxar, the police said. “The family members have been informed and they are on their way here,” investigating officer AK Singh said.
Meanwhile, the incident triggered panic in the temple premises. The temple authority closed down the darshan for three hours after which it was opened for devotees again.
Located on the confluence of Damodar and Bhairavi Rivers, the Rajrappa temple is dedicated to headless deity of goddess Chinnamastika who holds a scimitar in one hand and her severed head in the other. The temple is referred as a ‘Shakti Peeth’ in ancient Hindu scriptures and pujas are offered in the Tantrik style.
“Though the tantriks who come here to offer pujas during Amavasyas offer their blood by pricking their fingers, today’s incident is unprecedented,” a temple priest said.
