‘A good initiative in favour of masses’

LUCKNOW: Most of the temples, gurudwaras and churches welcomed the state government’s move to remove unauthorised loudspeakers at religious and public places.

“For worshipping God, loudspeakers are not necessary,” opined people at the helm of religious places.

Diwakar Tripathi, secretary, Sankatmochan Hanuman Temple, said: “We welcome the decision to ban high-decibel loudspeakers at religious places. One must understand that temples are not for creating noise for others. We have public address systems inside the temples, which are used on Tuesdays for the recitation of Sundar Kand and bhajans while loudspeakers are not used on rooftops.”

“There was a time when the Sankatmochan temple had two loudspeakers on its dome. But when nearby residents came to us with the complaint of loud sound, we pulled them down,” he said.

Mahant Divyagiri of Mankameshwar Temple said, “Temple is a place to worship and Mankameshwar temple never uses high-decibel loudspeakers, which can disturb others. It’s a good initiative in favour of masses.”

“We have not received the copy of the government order. If it is meant for all religious places and for the good of the society, we will comply with it. We use loudspeakers within our church premises as the priest addresses 300-400 people during Sunday masses,” said Father Donald De Souza, spokesperson, Catholic Diocese of Lucknow.

However, Rajendra Singh Bagga of Lucknow Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee said, “We welcome the initiative of the state government to ban loudspeakers at religious places. There are 40 gurudwaras in the city and none uses loudspeakers.”

“Gurudwaras use public address systems inside the hall. One must understand the difference between public address system inside the premises and a loudspeaker on the rooftop,” he said.

He said if the public address system is inside the hall of gurudwara, only the devotees can listen to the bhajans and kirtans.