Thiruvananthapuram: Allegations that a Hindu prayer ritual (puja) was held at a state government-owned bus station, to exorcise ghosts, have triggered a row in Kerala.
Kerala is credited for being India’s first fully literate state, besides being known for several progressive social developments.
Reports indicate that a ghost-busting puja was held at a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation-owned bus station in the northernmost district of the state, Kasaragod in an attempt to exorcise a ghost. The ritual was held because some staff believed that a ghost was behind a spate of recent mishaps involving KSRTC buses.
A priest who was engaged to conduct the puja reportedly advised that the land on which the bus stand was built earlier belonged to a private individual, and that the area was under the control of a ghost.
The priest advised that unless the ghost was exorcised, a calamity could fall upon the bus station.
Local television channels aired clips of the puja, and reported that the priest was brought from a village on the Kerala-Kasaragod border, and that the cost of the ritual of Rs20,000 (Dh1,107) was contributed by the staff and senior officials.
The ritual is believed to have been conducted in late October, and there is speculation that the clippings of the video taken on the occasion found their way into the media because of the rift between different trade unions in the government-owned transport corporation.
The KSRTC is in dire financial straits and is reportedly losing roughly Rs1 billion per month. Over the years the state government has been writing off the debts of the corporation, and presently the corporation is strained to even pay the pensions of retired employees.
