Chennai: After a gap of more than two months due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown, temples in many parts of the country started allowing devotees from today.
The shrines that were reopened for devotees today include the renowned Lord Venkateswara temple on Tirumala in Tirupati.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at Gorakhnath Temple. Temples were opened in Puducherry too. TTD is resuming Srivari darshan at Tirumala on an experimental basis from today.
Initially, on a trial basis, the darshan will be provided to the employees of TTD and their families who shall book darshan slots using the Intranet facility on 8 and 9 June.
Following the guidelines by government of India, 65 years and above old senior citizens and below 10 years old children are barred from darshan.
Social distancing is the ‘mantra’ while traditional practices such as ‘archana’ and giving ‘teertha’ (holy water) will be missing in places of worship in Karnataka when they open for devotees from Monday with a slew of restrictions after almost a three-month long hiatus due to coronavirus lockdown.
Temples, and mosques will reopen on Monday but the Church is set to allow its faithful from 13 June, giving itself time to sensitise them and parish priests about the guidelines to be followed as part of the fight against the deadly virus.
Places of worship have remained shut for public since 24 March when the first phase of national lockdown was enforced.
The State government has allowed religious places to open for public in line with the Centre’s guidelines as part of Unlock-1 and issued the standard operating procedure (SOP) with dos and don’ts including compulsory face mask for both devotees and priests, thermal screening and barring entry for children below 10 years and elders above 65.
In a bid to prevent spread of coronavirus which has affected over 5,000 people in the state, it has specified conditions such as social distancing, no distribution of ‘teertha’ (Charanamruta) or ‘prasada’, no temple bells for devotees and a bar on special ‘pooja’ or ‘archana’.