The portals of Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam were closed at 8 p.m. on Saturday ahead of the partial solar eclipse, which is slated to occur on Sunday. The temple will remain closed for a period of little over 18 hours in view of the astronomical event known as, Surya Grahanam, in the local parlance, till 2.30 p.m. on Sunday.
The temple doors will be reopened at 2.30 p.m. after the Surya Grahanam for purification rituals such as Samprokshana and Shanthi Homam.
Devotees will be allowed to have darshan of the temple deity for one hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.
The darshan timings would be 6.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. as usual from Monday.
Nalgonda Staff Reporter writes:
The Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam at Yadagirgutta will also remain closed.
Temple officials said the total shutdown would start from Saturday night till 3 p.m. on Sunday, after which the priests will perform cleansing rituals – shuddhi and punyavahachanam. All places of worship under the devasthanam would be open for devotees from the evening.
The Sri Jadala Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple at Chervugattu here, popular for devotee sleep-overs during amavasya, will remain closed till June 22.
Ashada Amavasya, which falls on Sunday, being a significant day that witnesses several rituals, usually draws tens of thousands devotees. Coinciding with the weekend, officials estimated the devotee footfall would rise, and observing COVID-19 preventive measures and the annular eclipse, it was decided to close the temple for darshans and other programmes.
Several other temples in the district are also to be closed.