Hundreds of devotees had a narrow escape during a festival when a 100-feet chariot fell on power lines.

Terrifying visuals show the moment the tall chariot keeling over and falling on the power lines.

A tragedy was averted as officials had taken the precaution to cut off the power supply to the local area for the entire duration of festival.

Further to the fortune of the devotees, the chariot fell on an empty plot of land, giving them a miss.

The incident occurred at Anekal near Bangalore in South India on March 10.

Several villages in the area celebrate their harvest by building tall wooden chariots and drawing them to a temple of popular local deity Madduramma.

An eyewitness, Ravi Kumar, said the chariot built by villagers of Narayanaghatta tumbled as its tower had been built with iron pipes making it top heavy.

“Villagers increase the height of the chariots every year competitively and do not build them scientifically. This was a mishap waiting to happen,” he added.