Many places of worship in the district reopened on Tuesday after restricting entry of devotees for nearly two-and-a-half months.
Temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board, including the Thiruvallam Sree Parasurama temple and the Sreekanteswaram temple, allowed devotees. People were allowed to enter the temples after thermal screening and collecting their details.
The Manacaud Valiya Palli mosque reopened with restrictions on entry. Believers were required to bring their own prayer mats and maintain physical distancing.
Only a few churches reopened. While those under the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram remained closed, the churches under the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, including St. Mary’s Cathedral, Pattom, reopened.
St. Mary Queen of Peace Basilica, Palayam, is set to reopen on Wednesday for the parishioners alone. Besides, entry will be limited to 10 persons at a time.
The South Kerala diocese of the Church of South India, which runs around 620 churches, has also permitted its churches to allow faithful. However, with several parishes raising concerns over reopening churches in containment zones and close to inter-State borders, church committees have been allowed to take decisions on the matter.
Without laity
While the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church has decided to continue with prayer services without the participation of the laity, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is yet to take a call on the issue. The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple will reopen only on June 30.
The office-bearers of the iconic Palayam Juma Masjid and the St. Joseph’s Metropolitan Church at Palayam had earlier decided against reopening them under the present circumstances.