Uttarakhand: The missing priests of pandit village Rudrapur

For Kedarnath temple priests 23-year-old Kalpeshwar and 36-year-old Anup, perhaps it was just another day of work at the shrine until the swirling currents of the Ganga raged the holy town following the incessant rain on 14 June. Since then, the duo along with eight others from the pandit village of Rudrapur have been missing.

With no news of the 10 young men, the village that enroute Kedarnath is now on a state of mourning.

Vijaya Devi, a widow, paralysed and the mother of Kalpeshwar, is inconsolable and in a state of shock.

“There is no bigger grief than the loss of a son. Her world has finished. No one is even there to cook for her,” a neighbour said.

Anup’s house, which is 200 metres away from Kalpeshwar’s, is also in grief.

“We just hope that he escaped somewhere and is going to return,” said Anup’s father. The priest is survived by his wife, two children and old parents.

There is no doubt that this nondescript village in Uttarakhand is struggling to come to terms with a grim reality.