NEW DELHI — Police filed charges of attempted murder and attempted culpable homicide Monday against the operators of a southern Indian temple where a fireworks display turned into a massive fire that killed at least 110 people and left nearly 400 wounded.

Also facing the same charges are the men who held the license for the fireworks, who allegedly were illegally in possession of a large amount of explosives.

Police said they have also detained five people associated with the fireworks contractor, even as they searched for temple managers who have either fled or have been killed in the fire. The government ordered a high-level inquiry into the tragedy.

Frantic families searched for the bodies of their missing relatives Monday, a day after the disaster.

The horrific fire occurred just before dawn Sunday when some 15,000 people had gathered at a temple on the outskirts of Kollam, in the southern state of Kerala, to watch the spectacular fireworks display, an annual ritual ahead of Hindu new year celebrations this week.

One of the firecrackers fell on a makeshift shed inside the temple complex where a large amount of fireworks were stored, triggering a series of explosions.

The explosions blew off the roof of one of the temple buildings and damaged other buildings nearby. Officials said that the death toll is likely to rise.

Eyewitnesses said dozens of bodies burned beyond recognition were still lying outside the hospital as relatives searched for their missing family members.

Rescue workers said work in the hours after the tragedy was impaired because there was no electricity at the temple grounds. There was also no temple manager present at the site to guide them.

Officials said that they had refused permission to the temple to conduct what is called a ‘‘competitive fireworks display’’ this year. But temple managers went ahead with their plan anyway, after assuring officials that they would use a small quantity of fireworks as a mere token to the tradition.

‘‘How it happened, whether they concealed the explosives, how they moved it to this place, these have to be ascertained in the inquiry,’’ V. R. Vinod, a senior district official told reporters.

Washington Post