Religious places open in some places as India steps out of lockdown

NEW DELHI: India on Monday took a tentative step out of a 75-day lockdown with religious places opening in several parts of the country. Gurdwaras, temples, mosques and churches opened their doors in several parts of the country, including in Delhi, West Bengal and Karnataka, but the entry of devotees was restricted in keeping with social distancing norms. In some places, temple bells were wrapped in cloth.

The Chhattarpur temple complex in Delhi, the Lord Venkateswara temple in Hyderabad, the Mahavir Mandir in Patna, the Sri Rama temple in Bhadrachalam and the Mookambika temple in Udupi were among the several temples that opened their doors.

Besides, the Jama Masjid in Delhi and the Golden Temple in Amritsar also welcomed devotees after the long gap.

In every place, masks, sanitising, social distancing and carefully regulated entries were the norm.

The Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya opened with precautions in place to prevent the Coronavirus spread.

According to Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of the temple, only five people were allowed to pay obeisance at a time and that too 15 metres away from the idol of Ram Lalla.

Temples in Karnataka and Telangana were opened only for darshan while there were no special pujas.

In Tamil Nadu, the government is yet to take a call on reopening all places of worship, which did not reopen on Monday, while those in Kerala, inlcuding the Sabarmala Ayyappa shrine, will be opened on Tuesday.

The Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh will start receiving devotees from Thursday although a trial run involving the employees and locals was done on Monday.

Most temples across Uttarakhand reopened their gates for devotees on Monday except the famous Chardham in Garhwal Himalayas and those within the limits of Dehradun municipal area. A decision on reopening Chardham, including Badrinarth, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, for pilgrims will be taken in a day or two after taking priests and stakeholders into confidence over the matter.