"God Save Us": Delhi Hospital Draws Fire Over Photo Of Havan In Building

A photograph showing a havan being conducted inside a Delhi hospital has gone viral on social media on Sunday, drawing criticism from several users.

The photo shared by Varghese K George, the resident editor of The Hindu, shows a group of four priests performing a havan at what appears to be the lobby of a hospital, as wheelchairs can be seen at the entrance gates.

“God save us. Inside the centrally air conditioned ⁦@ManipalHealth ⁩Hospital in Dwarka,  accompanying a patient with breathing trouble,” the tweet read.

The post amassed nearly 600,000 views with some users questioning the hospital for allowing the ritual to be conducted inside its premises while others accused the hospital of flouting fire safety norms and risking the lives of its patients.

It's a serious issue of compliance, they can't disable fire detection systems for this reason in Hospitals like this......

— ಎರ್ರಿಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಎನ್ (@n_yariswamy) March 25, 2023

A few users also speculated that the hospital of disabling its smoke alarms so that the havan could be conducted. Users also shared concern about the smoke affecting the patients inside the hospital.

that means they have disabled the automatic fire fighting system or else the havan's smoke would have triggered the desired response.

— rushi114 (@rushi1141) March 25, 2023

One user shared a similar image of a havan, claiming it was performed at the same hospital while India was battling the rise in Delta strain Covid cases in 2021.

This is the same hospital in the middle of the Delta wave. Utterly ludicrous. https://t.co/bs6smvEjL1

— Aditi Agrawal (@Aditi_muses) March 25, 2023

The hospital in question, Manipal Hospital, has responded to the original tweet.

Dear Varghese, we want to extend our sincerest apologies concerning all the issues that you have faced. Please DM us your contact details and our team will get back to you as soon as possible. Regards, Manipal Hospitals

— Manipal Hospitals | #TogetherStronger (@ManipalHealth) March 25, 2023