Local residents believe that the mishap took place because the deity’s temple at the entrance of the tunnel was razed.
NEW DELHI
Baba Baukh Nag, the serpent deity of the mountains around the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, has seen a huge surge in the number of devotees since the tunnel collapse and the subsequent successful rescue of 41 trapped workers. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix and officials of the Navayuga Engineering company that is building the 4.5-km tunnel are among those who paid tribute to the deity during the rescue work and after the mission was completed.
Local residents had expressed their fears that the mishap in the tunnel was a punishment inflicted by the deity whose temple at the entrance of the tunnel had been razed by workers a few days before the 12 November incident.
Taking note of the beliefs of the local residents amid desperation to get the trapped men out, the officials of the company sought penance and rebuilt a makeshift temple outside the gate. Area residents said the workers used to offer prayers daily before entering the tunnel but ever since the temple was pulled down, problems started cropping up.
After the 17-day ordeal, Dix, the international tunnel expert, said the rescue was nothing short of a miracle. “I also offered prayer at the temple and thanked the god,” he said.
There is a growing belief that it was due to Baba Baukh Nag’s blessings—after the temple was restored—that the mission became successful. Dhami has now promised to build a permanent temple for the deity.
Locals believe Baba Baukh Nag is the guardian deity of mountains. While rescue missions were failing one after the other over two weeks, the officials of the tunnel construction company went to the Bhatiya village and offered prayers at the deity’s native place. On officials’ request, the priest in the village offered special prayers and also told them that a positive outcome was likely in the rescue operation over the next three days.
Over the following days, a palanquin, carrying the deity, was also brought from the Bhatiya village to the tunnel site. Even the priest of the temple was driven in a car to the rescue operation site for special prayers.