Varanasi: Varanasi’s ‘Dom Raja’ Jagdish Chaudhary passed away on Tuesday at the age of 55. Soon Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his anguish on the unfortunate demise of Chaudhary.
PM Modi tweeted in Hindi, ”Extremely saddened by the demise of Dom Raja Jagdish Chaudhary of Varanasi. He settled in the culture of Kashi and was the conductor of the Sanatan tradition there. He worked for social harmony throughout his life. May God give peace to his soul and give the family the strength to bear this suffering.”
वाराणसी के डोम राजा जगदीश चौधरी जी के निधन से अत्यंत दुख पहुंचा है। वे काशी की संस्कृति में रचे-बसे थे और वहां की सनातन परंपरा के संवाहक रहे। उन्होंने जीवनपर्यंत सामाजिक समरसता के लिए काम किया। ईश्वर उनकी आत्मा को शांति प्रदान करे और परिजनों को इस पीड़ा को सहने की शक्ति दे।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 25, 2020
Chaudhary who is known as ‘Dom Raja’ (king of cremators) of Varanasi was one of the proposers of Modi’s candidature from the constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He had accompanied PM Modi last year to the Varanasi Collectorate to sign on the PM’s nomination papers for re-election.
Dom Raja’s clans have been responsible for lighting pyres for generations at the Manikarnika and Harishachandra Ghats in Varanasi.