New Delhi, June 30, 2013: Yoga guru Ramdev today took exception to the manner in which bodies of people killed in the natural calamity in Uttarakhand were being treated by the authorities, saying they should be cremated with proper Vedic rituals.

Shaken by the heart-rending TV footage of bodies lying here and there in Rambada near Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag district, Ramdev said the state government should show sensitivity to the people who lost their lives in the tragedy and should not leave them in open in this manner.

"The bodies should be collected speedily and consigned to flames with proper Vedic rituals," the yoga guru said.

He also announced that the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust will set up a 'sevashram' at Narayankothi for disaster-hit shelter less women and orphaned children to help them get back on their feet.

The Patnajali Sevashram will be inaugurated by the yoga guru tomorrow at Narayakothi where a Yagya will also be conducted for peace to the departed souls, Patanjali Yogpeeth sources said.

Echoing Ramdev, Govardhan Peeth Puri Shankaracharya Swami Adhokchajanand also objected to the treatment the bodies in the affected areas in the aftermath of the tragedy.

"No indignity should be meted out to the bodies of hapless people killed in the calamity. They should be cremated with proper Hindu rituals," he said.

He said it was unjustified to raise questions over the inherited rights of Rawal priests to perform Puja at Kedarnath shrine.

"Rawals traditionally enjoy the rights of performing Puja at the Himalayan shrine. They were given the rights by the Adi Shankaracharya. Raising questions over it is an insult to Adi Shankaracharya," he said.

Swami Adhokchajanand had recently demanded that the Himalayas be declared an ecologically conserved zone and a separate Pilgrimage Ministry be set up at the Centre to run the affairs of the revered Hindu temples in high altitudes like Badrinath, Kedarnath and Amarnath.

Source: DNA, DT. June 30, 2013.