Varanasi: Kashi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat turned into a place of remembrance on Sunday, as Matri Navami brought an unusual and poignant ritual—pind daan and tarpan for 10,000 unborn girls killed in the womb during the ongoing Pitru Paksha..Organised annually by Agaman Samajik Sanstha to draw society’s attention to female foeticide, the ritual was led by founder-secretary Santosh Ojha under the guidance of five Vedic priests. From early morning, volunteers prepared pindas using barley flour, sesame, honey, ghee, sugar, milk and Ganga water. A sacred altar made of Ganga clay was consecrated with mantras, kusha, fire and holy water before the offerings, tarpan and prayers for forgiveness were performed and the pindas were immersed in the river.Now in its 13th year, the ceremony is part of Agaman’s long-running campaign against female foeticide, Ojha said, adding that the observance is not merely a ritual but a call to awaken society and parents who deny daughters the right to be born. It also marked prayers for more than 1.6 lakh departed unborn daughters across the country.Ojha recalled that in 2001, when the Agaman team was conducting a public awareness campaign on AIDS, he and other volunteers met a person who had destroyed a female fetus in his wife’s womb in the desire to have a son.“For him it was a normal incident, but this incident inspired us to create public awareness about issues related to the birth of girls,” Ojha said.Following the incident, he said, Agaman conducted public awareness campaigns to stop female foeticide and organised various programmes for the cause.“Again in 2013, an incident inspired me to do something for the ‘moksha’ of those ill-fated girls, who were deprived of seeing the world. A thought came to my mind that I can at least wish for their salvation if not save them,” he said.
