2010 Varanasi bombing

The 2010 Varanasi bombing was a blast that occurred on 7 December 2010, in one of the holiest Hindu cities, Varanasi. The explosion occurred at Sheetla Ghat, adjacent to the main Dashashwamedh Ghat, where the sunset aarti, the evening prayer ritual to the holy river, Ganges had commenced, on these stone steps leading to it, where thousands of worshipers and tourists had gathered.^[1][2] It killed a two-year-old girl, sitting on her mother's lap, the mother was one of three critically injured, more than 38 other people were injured. In the ensuing panic after the blast, a railing broke causing a stampede leading to an increase in the number of injuries.^[2] The bomb was hidden inside a milk container on the Sheetla Ghat.^[3] The blast occurred a day after the anniversary of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, in which a mosque was demolished at Ayodhya leading to nationwide religious riots killing over 2,000 people. Subsequently, the Islamist militant group, Indian Mujahideen, claimed responsibility of the blast, via email to Indian media. This is also the second terrorism-related incident in the city which was rocked by the serial blasts of 2006, in which 28 people were killed, it included an explosion at the Sankatmochan Temple, some two kilometres away.^[1][4][5]

Sitala Ghat is the southern extension of the Dashashwamedh Ghat, and its stone steps lead to Sitala Mata Temple. Also close by is the historic Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the Shiva temple which has one of the 12 Jyotirlinga of India. The present ghat was re-furbished in c. 1740 by Pt. Narayana Diksit the preceptor of Peshwa Baji Rao I, the Prime Minister of the Maratha Empire.^[6]