Machail (Kishtwar): Hundreds of pilgrims gathered at the Machail Mata temple on Saturday to offer special prayers for the missing and honor those who lost their lives in the cloudburst that struck Chisoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Thursday.
The flash floods, triggered by the cloudburst, hit Chisoti—the last motorable village on the route to Machail Mata temple—around 12:30 pm on August 14, claiming 60 lives and injuring over 100 people.
On Saturday, locals and pilgrims assembled in large numbers at the temple to pay homage to the victims. Devotees also prayed for the safe recovery of the missing and for the injured to regain their health quickly.
“We held special prayers to honor the departed souls of the cloudburst tragedy,” said Surinder Kumar, a member of the temple committee. “This is the first time such special prayers have been conducted at the temple, which is located several kilometers from Chisoti.”
Some pilgrims who had come directly from the affected area expressed concern for relatives still missing. “We pray to Mata for the safe recovery of those who are missing,” one pilgrim said.
So far, 82 people—81 pilgrims and one CISF personnel—remain unaccounted for after the flash floods hit the village in Padder subdivision. Jammu, Udhampur, and Samba districts have the highest number of missing persons, totaling 60.
The annual Machail Mata Yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday. The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine begins from Chisoti, located approximately 90 km from Kishtwar town.
