Guidelines allow entry to five at a time; no ‘prasad’ & ‘teeka’
LUCKNOW: When temples and other places of worship reopen on Monday in Uttar Pradesh, there will be a number of restrictions for those visiting these places in Unlock-1. Keeping in mind people’s safety amid Covid-19 pandemic, the state government issued guidelines in this regard on Saturday. Besides making use of masks and sanitiser mandatory, the guidelines also say no temple can allow entry to more than five persons at a time.
Inside the temple, no ‘prasad’ or ‘teeka’ will be offered to the devotees who can’t ring the bell there. No group or singer can sing devotional songs inside the temples. In addition to it, people will have to either take off their footwear and keep them in their vehicles or have to take care of it themselves. In the state capital, a meeting of district administration and management of religious places was held on Saturday in which district magistrate Abhishek Prakash asked those managing the religious places to ensure safety of devotees.
“I have asked the management committees to follow the guidelines by the chief minister. The number of visitors inside the temple must be limited and for that they can go for online booking of darshan,” said the DM.
Meanwhile Mahant Divyagiri of Manakameshwar temple said, “We will follow the directives of district administration but as we expect heavy crowd on the very first day, I have asked for some police deployment at the temple.”
“We will provide masks to those who forget to bring it with them. Sanitisers would be placed at the entrance and maintaining social distancing would be mandatory for all,” She said.
“I am also thinking about allowing darshan to limited number of devotees per day after discussions with district administration tomorrow (Sunday) . We are also going to allow entry from one gate and exit from another to avoid crowd. Besides, no one would be allowed to offer milk or prasad to Shivlingam.”
“We have good crowd on Tuesdays. So we are planning entry from one side and exit from the other. Besides, we will not allow more than 5 people at a time inside the temple. Before entry, devotees would be provided sanitiser and also masks to those who forget,” said Chandrakant who manages daily affairs of Hanuman Setu temple.
Father Donald D’Souza , spokesperson for Cathedral Church, said, “Entry to church without mask will not be allowed. On the first day, we will try to organise prayers in the morning and in the evening just to avoid overcrowding. We will also provide sanitisers to everyone and ensure social distancing.”
Rajendra Singh Bagga, president, Lucknow Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, said, “Thermal scanners would be placed at the entry of gurudwaras. We will allow limited ‘sangat’ inside the hall at a time.”
Chairman, Islamic Centre of India, Farangi Mahal, and Imam of Aishbagh Eidgah Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali said, “I have already issued an advisory. Those above 65 years of age should pray at home. Meanwhile, prayers would be organised in four different ‘Jamaats’ at the interval of 15 minutes. The ‘Khutba’ of Friday prayers would be reduced and there would be no sermons after the Friday prayers for some more days.”