Temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board in Pathanamthitta witnessed a low turnout of devotees when they were thrown open to devotees on Tuesday after 78 days owing to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. S. Ajithkumar, Assistant Devaswom Commissioner, told The Hindu that 300 devotees turned up at the Sree Parthasarathy temple at Aranmula. Around 450 devotees offered prayers at the Bhagavathy temple at Malayalappuzha.
The Sreevallabha temple at Thiruvalla and the Mahadevar temples at Kaviyur and Chengannur too witnessed a lean pilgrim turnout.
Catholic churches open
Churches under the Syro-Malankara Church were opened on Tuesday morning for daily liturgical service.
The crowd was moderate at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Pathanamthitta, Mary Matha Forane Church at Mylapra and at Sacred Heart Church at Adoor. Metropolitan Archbishop of Thiruvalla Thomas Mar Koorilos said the Church and its members were bound to ensure strict compliance with the lockdown norms.
The Jacobite Syrian Church will open its churches attached to the Kollam and Niranom dioceses for the Sunday service.
The Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar and the Believers Eastern Church have decided not to open their churches this month. Mar Thoma Church head Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan is of the view that there is no point in opening the churches without permitting entry to believers above the age of 65 years and children below the age of 10 years.