Praying for the salvation of one and allSpirituality

(Gaya (Bihar), Oct 9): Be it the victims of 9/11 or of the Mumbai train bombings of last year or late Indian American astronaut Kalpana Chawla, for the last six years a man here has been offering 'pindadan' - a Hindu service seeking salvation for the dead - for hundreds of people whom he never knew personally.

And Suresh Narayan, who is in his 40s and lives in Gaya town, 100 km from state capital Patna, organises the ritual irrespective of the dead person's caste, religion and creed.

"I have been conducting rituals for the last six years for the salvation of people with whom I do not have any blood relation, irrespective of caste, religion or creed," Suresh Narayan told IANS here.

The small-time businessman, who pays for the ritual out of his own pocket, believes it is his way of offering a service to humanity.

Thousands of Hindus from across India and abroad throng Gaya at this time as the 'Pitrapaksh' period - when pindadan is offered on the banks of the river Falgu - is currently on. The 15 days of the dark half of the Hindu month of Ashwin is known as Pitrapaksh.

According to Hindu belief, the soul wanders after death until pindadan is performed. In Gaya, it is performed at the famous Vishnupad temple by the descendants of the dead. The priests, known as Gaywal-pandas, conduct the ritual.

Legend has it that Lord Rama and his wife Sita too performed this religious rite for his father Dasharath.

But Suresh Narayan does it for people he has never met.

"I had offered prayers Thursday and Friday," he said. These prayers were for the 40 odd people who died in the August blasts in Hyderabad as well as victims of the Samjhauta Express explosions and floods in the country.

Last year, Narayan performed the rituals for those killed in the Mumbai blasts, in which about 200 people were killed.

Earlier, he had offered prayers for those killed in the 2004 tsunami, the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, the terrorist attack on the Akshardham Temple in 2002 and the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.

He has also performed the ritual for US-based astronaut Kalpana Chawla who died when space shuttle Columbia crashed, for shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan and Mother Teresa - even though the last two were not Hindus.

Pindadan is traditionally offered by Hindus, but historical records available with priests show that even some Muslims performed the ritual in the past.