BJP MLA Bhupendrasinh Chudasama on Monday performed a ‘shanti puja’ at Lothal, Gujarat, at the excavation site, for a 26-year-old PhD scholar from IIT-Delhi who died nearly three weeks ago
Surabhi Verma, who was pursuing her PhD at IIT Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, died on November 27 when a trench near the Harappan-era archaeological remains collapsed while she was collecting soil samples. Her associate professor, Yama Dixit, was rescued by first responders.
Chudasama, a veteran BJP leader and former Education Minister of Gujarat, was joined by Dholka constituency legislator Kiritsinh Dabhi, local villagers and sarpanches from 10 surrounding villages during the two-hour ceremony.
“The daughter that came for an assignment could not return and met with the unfortunate incident. Being a religious and spiritual person, I wanted the shanti yagna for peace of the departed soul. The purna ahuti in the hawan was given by everyone present there, including the drivers, helpers and villagers,” Chudasama told a section of media.
He recalled organising a similar ceremony decades ago. “In 1997, 11 people from Amreli died when a bus carrying passengers drowned in a rivulet in Lolia village. I organised a similar shanti yagna at the site,” he said.
Surabhi Verma’s father, Ram Khelawan, expressed gratitude for the gesture, saying, “The family appreciates the move and the intention behind the puja for my daughter.”
The trench, which is composed of marine clay, has reportedly widened to three metres since the incident. Sahdevsinh Zala, sarpanch of Nani Boru village, who participated in the puja, noted that local residents are always willing to assist researchers at the site. “The locals are well aware of the soil conditions. However, in this case, we were not informed that researchers were working on the site. If we had known, we could have helped,” said Zala, who was one of the first responders during the incident.
Dabhi stated that the puja aimed to convey a positive message to the local community. “The people in the area, and Lothal at large, are not very educated and are superstitious. With this untimely death, there should not be any hindrance to the development of the world’s best maritime museum coming up in Lothal. So, this puja was performed to send positive energy and peace to the daughter who was pulled to the site by her destiny,” he said to a section of media.
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