Tension prevailed in a village in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district following the theft of a “miracle” stone from a local temple a couple of days ago, the police said on Sunday.
People in the village of Biladila under Chakradhar Nagar sub-division staged demonstration at the local police station demanding immediate retrieval of the stone, known as “Ram Pathar” among the devotees, and arrest of its pilferers.
The Chakradhar Nagar police on Sunday filed an FIR against unknown people for stealing the stone late on Thursday, following a complaint lodged by the temple priest.
People believed that the stone has religious significance as it was a part of the mythological “Ram Sethu” (bridge) built by Lord Ram on sea to cross over to Lanka of Ramayan epic to rescue his wife Sita. The 10 kg stone, preserved in an enclosure in the premise of the temple, was floating in water. Devotees, visiting the shrine, worshipped the stone considering that it has divine power.
“The theft of the stone has hurt the religious sentiments of the local villagers. We have registered a case of stealing and began a probe into the matter”, inspector-in-cha-rge of Chakradhar Nagar police station Upendra Yadav said.
When contacted geologist N.Mahapatra dismissed any miracle associated with the stone.
“It is volcanic stone -known as pumice in geological term-, usually found in Deccan plateau comprising Chhattisgarh, AP, Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat and Chandigarh in India. The stones are products of lava erupted during volcanic eruptions. In molten state, the stones had gases inside them. The gases were later released in molten state leaving vesicles (membranous cavities) with in these small rocks, after their solidification,” he added.