Chhath Puja ghat vandalised as miscreants break Bedi and throw it into pond before sunrise rituals
Balod, Chhattisgarh, India 
27 October, 2025
Case Summary
A Chhath Puja Ghat was vandalised in Balod city of Chhattisgarh when miscreants broke the Bedi (altar) prepared for the festival and threw it into the Budha Talab in the early hours on 28 October 2025. When devotees arrived to offer Arghya to the rising sun, they found the altar destroyed and submerged in water, sparking anger and distress among those present. Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Sun God (Surya) and his sister, Chhathi Maiya, celebrated mainly in Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Nepal. It is observed over four days, involving rituals like fasting, holy bathing, and offering prayers to the setting and rising sun to express gratitude and seek blessings for health, prosperity, and well-being. The festival emphasises a deep connection between humanity and nature, particularly valuing the life-giving energy of the sun. Devotees gather at riverbanks or water bodies to perform these rituals, showcasing a rich cultural and spiritual heritage. According to local police, the altar was found in a broken state inside the pond when worshippers reached for the morning rituals. The incident deeply hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, leading to a complaint being lodged at the Balod City Kotwali police station. A police team soon arrived at the site and conducted an inspection. The investigation was underway to identify the individuals involved in the desecration. Local residents expressed outrage over the act, stating that such incidents not only disrupt religious observances but also endanger communal harmony. They demanded immediate and strict action against those responsible to safeguard the sanctity of Hindu festivals and ensure such acts of disrespect do not recur.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The first subcategory under this is: Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. Another subcategory under this is: Violence against religious structures or centres. In Hinduism, a religious structure is also considered divine. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the religious structure itself is sacred. In this sub-category, we would document attacks against religious structures which are not consecrated temple spaces. Such religious spaces could be temporary in nature – for example – the religious spaces erected specifically for festivals like Durga Puja etc. This category would also document cases of attacks against religious centres. These spaces in their own right may not be ‘sacred’ per se, however, are often spaces where religious gurus live, religious teaching is imparted, or belong to religious institutions. Any attack against religious structures is a result of animosity towards the religion itself, which manifests itself through the religious spaces and therefore, such attacks are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. Religious centres are also manifestations of the religion, its teachings or gurus and therefore, attacks against such centres would be considered religiously motivated hate crimes. Another subcategory under this is: Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. This case has been included in the Hinduphobia Tracker as a clear instance of the desecration of Hindu religious symbols and the defilement of sacred customs. The incident in Balod city, where miscreants vandalised a Chhath Puja Ghat by breaking the altar prepared for worship and throwing it into the Budha Talab on 28 October 2025, reflects an intentional act of disrespect towards one of Hinduism’s most spiritually significant festivals. The Chhath Puja altar, or bedi, is not a mere structure of clay and bricks; it represents sanctity, faith, and the deep spiritual bond between devotees and the Sun God. Its destruction on the eve of ritual offerings to the rising sun constitutes an affront to the religious sentiments of Hindus and a direct attempt to desecrate a sacred space of worship. Chhath Puja is a uniquely Hindu festival that celebrates the cosmic relationship between human life and solar energy, with roots stretching back to the Vedic age. It embodies principles of purity, restraint, and devotion, upheld through rigorous fasting and ritual observance. Any attempt to destroy a space prepared for this sacred celebration carries deep religious and symbolic implications. In this case, the vandalism of the Chhath Ghat did not merely disrupt a local ritual but constituted an attack on the collective identity of the Hindu community that venerates this tradition. The act was calculated to humiliate and desecrate a visible expression of Hindu faith, thereby qualifying as a religiously motivated hate crime. The incident in Balod is not isolated but part of a troubling pattern of targeted hostility against Hindu religious observances during Chhath Puja in 2025. Two other similar cases were recorded in 2025. In Kohargaddi village, under the jurisdiction of Khadda Police Station in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, the festival was disrupted by Muslim men who harassed Hindu devotees, verbally abused them, and molested women participating in the rituals. In another incident, a Chhath Ghat near the under-construction AMU campus in Chakla Panchayat, Kishanganj, Bihar, was desecrated on the night of 27 October 2025 by unidentified miscreants who destroyed the prepared site for worship. Even though the offenders in Kishanganj were unknown, the deliberate nature of the act and its timing, targeting a Hindu festival space, leaves no doubt that the motivation was rooted in animosity toward Hinduism. Hinduphobia Tracker had documented this incident. When examined together, these incidents illustrate a broader pattern of targeted hostility towards Hindu religious expressions, particularly during collective and highly symbolic events. The desecration of Chhath Puja Ghats, whether by known or unknown actors, cannot be dismissed as mere vandalism or mischief. Such actions are directed at humiliating and undermining the faith of Hindu practitioners by violating their sacred spaces and interrupting their worship. The act in Balod specifically demonstrates this intent. The perpetrators attacked the embodiment of faith, the bedi, a ritual structure central to the offering of arghya to the Sun God. Destroying it before dawn, when devotees would arrive for prayer, ensured that the act would inflict maximum emotional and psychological harm. The timing and nature of the desecration reveal premeditation and symbolic violence, the targeting of a sacred structure to disrupt a sacred moment. This deliberate desecration also falls under the category of violence against religious structures or centres, as the Chhath Puja Ghat, though temporary, serves as a consecrated space of worship during the festival. In Hindu thought, such structures are sacred by virtue of their function and consecration. To violate them is to commit sacrilege against the faith itself. Furthermore, the act also constitutes defilement of religious customs, as it directly interferes with the observance of Chhath rituals that have been passed down through generations. The sanctity of Chhath Puja lies not only in its physical space but in the unbroken continuity of devotion that connects millions of Hindu families across India. By breaking the bedi and discarding it in the pond, the perpetrators desecrated the ritual process itself, mocking and disrupting the sacred tradition. The cumulative effect of such acts, in Balod, Kishanganj, and Kushinagar, reveals a disturbing trend of systematic disregard for Hindu faith and its practices. Whether through the defilement of altars, harassment of devotees, or desecration of festival spaces, these incidents are motivated by hostility towards the visible expressions of Hindu belief. Each represents not just an act of destruction but an attempt to erode the dignity and spiritual autonomy of Hindu communities. For these reasons, the Balod case has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker as a religiously motivated hate crime. It stands as a testament to the recurring pattern of aggression against Hindu religious observances, acts that seek to defile symbols of faith, disrupt sacred traditions, and intimidate devotees from freely practising their religion.
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