Worshippers in masks return to temples, mosques
Government sets strict guidelines to prevent further surge in cases
People trickled into temples and mosques in India yesterday as the federal government lifted most restrictions on public places, even as the country added a record number of infections in a single day.
Narendra Modi government ordered shopping malls, places of worship and restaurants to open under a set of guidelines meant to prevent a further surge of infections in the world’s second-most-populous country.
Worshippers wore masks, stood 6 feet (2 metres) part and went through thermal scanners at Hindu temples in Delhi and elsewhere in the country that are usually filled to capacity.
Harsh Vyas of an Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple in the western city of Ahmedabad said access was strictly controlled.
“We are allowing only a small number of devotees inside the temple at one time. We have drawn circles where they need to stand to ensure proper distancing of at least 6 feet,” Vyas said.
Many temples set up sanitisation tunnels at their entrances and barred worshippers from bringing offerings.
“People are having their temperature tested twice before they get in,” said Ravindra Goel, a trustee of the Jhandewalan temple, one of the oldest in Delhi.
The 400-year-old Jama Masjid mosque — one of the biggest in India — planned to allow the faithful in just three times a day instead of the usual five.
In the north-eastern states devotees rushed to temples for offering pujas and perform other religious rituals.
While use of infrared thermal scanner, face-mask, hand glove and alcoholic sanitiser are mandatory, many traditional customs, including mass use of vermilion, consumption of ‘prasad’ and ‘charanamrita’ (food and liquid offerings), touching and bowing to the ground to greet gods and goddess are barred.