Vindhyachal temple reopens after 100 days

Varanasi: Vindhyachal Temple of Mirzapur district reopened on Sunday after 100 days of closure in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Priests performed ‘rajshree aarti’ at the temple on Sunday.
The Vindhya Panda Samaj (VPS) had decided to close the Vindhyachal Temple as well as other temples in its triangle including Kalikhoh and Ashtabhuja from March 20 in view of the pa demic. Even after the state government allowed reopening of religious sites in the second week of unlock-1, VPS was not hasty to reopen the temple, and delayed the process owing to the detection of a Covid positive priest on June 10.
Talking to TOI, the VPS president Pankaj Dwivedi said, “On June 24, our samaj had decided to reopen the temple from Sunday. In the past four days, all plans for crowd control, arrangements related to safety as per the guidelines of government were discussed and implemented. An Akhand Kirtan (mass religious recital) by selected priests was organised on Saturday afternoon, and it concluded on Sunday afternoon with the performance of rajshree aarti, which was attended by Mirzapur MLA Ratnakar Mishra and DM Sushil Patel.”
“Devotees will stand in circles drawn to maintain social distancing and wait for their entry in the temple. Wearing masks and sanitising hands will be a must. Devotees will offer prayers from outside the sanctum sanctorum and proceed out of the temple without touching anything. Similar arrangements will be effective in other temples of Vindhya triangle,” he added.