Patna: The last rites of former IPS officer, well-known philanthropist, and Ayodhya dispute mediator, Acharya Kishore Kunal, was performed at Konhara Ghat, at the confluence of the holy Ganga and Gandak rivers near Hajipur in Vaishali district. His son, Sayan Kunal, lit the funeral pyre.
Earlier, Kunal’s body was kept at the famous Mahavir Mandir in Patna for about one-and-a-half hour for people and his followers to pay their last respect. Kunal had renovated and beautified this temple during his tenure as the superintendent of police (SP) of Patna.
Thousands of people came to the Mahavir Mandir to pay tribute to him. The state’s minister of rural works and Kunal’s ‘samadhi’ (relative), Ashok Choudhary, carried the bier from the vehicle to the temple premises.
As the secretary of the Mahavir Mandir Trust, Kunal opened nine charitable hospitals and accomplished many significant tasks. His body was placed in the temple courtyard in front of the statue of Saint Ravidas. Like Saint Ravidas, Acharya Kunal worked to eradicate caste discrimination in the management of Hindu temples in Bihar. As head of Patna’s Mahavir Mandir Trust, he was credited with appointing the first dalit priest in any temple in Bihar, on June 13, 1993.
During the final viewing of his body, Kunal’s wife, Anita Kunal, appeared silent, while his son Sayan and daughter-in-law Shambhavi Choudhary, who is also the MP of Samastipur, were seen crying inconsolably.
Bihar minister Nitin Nabin also came to the temple to pay his respects to Kunal. He described Kunal’s death as a personal loss.
A special gate of the Mahavir Mandir was opened for visitors to pay tribute to him. Kunal made the temple so grand and when he stayed in Patna, he always participated in the temple’s ‘aarti’. On Sunday, his body was also shown the ‘aarti’.