1927 Nagpur Riots: Black day when city burned in communal fury

Maharashtra: September 4, 1927, was the date when Nagpur's Mahal locality ignited one of India's deadliest communal riots. A procession of the Mahalaxmi Puja ceremony became a battleground as 22 lost their lives and more than 100 were injured. The religious procession turned violent and raged through everything in its path, leaving a bloodied and devastated trail behind.

A religious procession that ignited an inferno

When the Hindu procession tried to march through Mahal, a Muslim neighborhood, relations hit a boiling point. There were three straight days of riots, rioting mobs fighting in the streets. The city saw unprecedented violence, with houses burning, shops looted, and innocent lives lost in the firefight.

RSS becomes a force in the turmoil

RSS was only two years old. But during the riots, its activists went onto the streets, marching with sticks to guard Hindu families. This changed the fate of RSS, turning it into a national phenomenon and inspiring it to spread across India.

Nagpur held Hostage by communal hatred

The city went up in flames for three days. There was no British administration or police checking, and the streets rang with hysterical mobs, charred buildings, and unrelenting terror. The riots brought Nagpur low, inflicting wounds of communal disintegration on the city that would be long-lasting.