Eyewitnesses said as some devotees slipped on the 75-metre slope, others fell on each other causing the stampede.

"Many of those killed died due to suffocation as a result of the stampede," Principal Secretary (Home) S N Thanvi said in Jaipur.

15 to 20 people were killed on the spot and the others succumbed to their injuries in various hospitals including Mahatma Gandhi, Mathuradas Mathur and Sun City Hospitals here, officials said.

Chief Minister Vasudhara Raje, who visited the tragedy site, ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured.

Officials said the situation went out of control as devotees, carrying offerings, jostled with each other and tried to rush towards the temple doors breaking the barricades.

Inspector General of Police, Jodhpur, Rajiv Dasod said some of the devotees slipped on a 75-metre-long slope on the temple path causing the stampede in the 100-metre zone around it.

"There has been no casualty in the queue for women in which a large number of children were also present," he said.

The injured were rushed to hospitals in police vehicles and ambulances, Dasod said, adding that the whole areas was evacuated within an hour.

Some eyewitness told police that a side wall of the temple had also collapsed due to pressure from the large number of devotees.