Temple prasada poisoning case: Driver’s mistake saves 35 lives

Chamarajanagar:  A tempo driver, by his mistake has unknowingly saved 35 people from a near death situation.

As the news of multiple deaths at the Sulawadi Maramma Temple due to consumption of poisoned prasada reached the ears of 35 people from a nearby village, they were left shocked at how narrowly they had cheated death.

The incident

Around 35 women from the neighboring village called Alai Mathahalli about 25kms from Sulawadi, had set out in the morning for the ground breaking ceremony of the gopuram at Sulawadi Maramma Temple. However, the driver of their tempo got confused of the final destination and ended up reaching another Maramma Temple located in Ramapura (15kms from Sulawadi).

The tempo driver identified as Sethu (47) initially faced the annoyed reaction of the women but now is regarded as their savior by the same women.

Since Sethu had mistakenly brought the women to the Ramapura Maramma temple, the annoyed women nonetheless decided to offer prayers here and then proceed with their journey towards their primary destination.

In the afternoon around 1 pm, Sethu received news that the devotees who had visited the Sulawadi temple had fallen terribly sick after consuming the prasada there and were dying.

Eventually, the women hear the news and were extremely grateful to Sethu for saving their lives by bringing them to the wrong address.

On this singular experience, Sethu thanks god for at least saving the lives. He further explains that he had taken Rs 1,000 for the trip to Sulawadi Maramma Temple, but on reaching the location, got confused and inadvertently took his passengers to the temple at Ramapura instead.

Their initial reaction was to curse him for taking them to the wrong temple, says Sethu and adds that when they heard of the tragedy, they shocked, surprised and glad.

Sethu says that he is unsure if it was a miracle or sheer luck, but is definitely happy that they are alive.