Varanasi: There is good news for the devotees of Shiva who were not sure of being able to have their deity’s darshan in Kashi Vishwanath temple due to Covid-19 restrictions in Shrawan month.
Come Shrawan and the Kashi Vishwanath temple in association with Varanasi Smart City Limited will start relaying aarti, prayers and darshan of the ‘jyotirlinga’ in the sanctum sanctorum live on LED screens installed at city crossings.
The temple administration took the decision of starting the facility to enable the devotees to get darshan of Lord Vishwanath without visiting the temple, where strict curbs are being followed to avoid gathering in view of Covid-19 menace. The Kanwar Yatra has already been suspended due to the pandemic.
KVT chief executive officer Gaurang Rathi, who is also municipal commissioner and CEO of VSCL, said, “The Shrawan month begins on July 6 and five Mondays will fall in the holy month this year. Despite all restrictions, there is a possibility of huge turnout of devotees for offering prayers in Shrawan month.”
“In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, all necessary arrangements have been made to ensure safety of devotees and preventing spread of infection,” he added. “Devotees come to offer prayers in huge numbers during Shrawan month every year, but due to Covid-19 restrictions this year it will not be possible to have the usual rush. So, we decided to install two unipolar LED screens at Ravidas Gate in Lanka area and another at Bhojubir for live darshan and prayers in the sanctum sanctorum of KVT. Besides, eight more LED screens will be installed in the city but recorded visuals will be shown on them,” he said.
The LED screens have been installed after assessing that traffic movement will not be hit in case people gather at the spot, he added.
The rules for entry, exit of devotees and their time of stay in temple are already being followed as per government guidelines, Rathi said.
“During Shrawan month also, devotees will maintain social distancing in queues. Wearing a mask and sanitising hands at entry will be must. Only a limited number of devotees will be allowed entry at a time. They will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum. No sparsh darshan (touching jyotirlinga) will be permitted," he added.
Devotees will be allowed entry from Pancho Pandav, Chhattadwar and Dhundiraj Ganesh points. The temple premises will be sanitised every six hours while ambulances will be there on the standby.
Come Shrawan and the Kashi Vishwanath temple in association with Varanasi Smart City Limited will start relaying aarti, prayers and darshan of the ‘jyotirlinga’ in the sanctum sanctorum live on LED screens installed at city crossings.
The temple administration took the decision of starting the facility to enable the devotees to get darshan of Lord Vishwanath without visiting the temple, where strict curbs are being followed to avoid gathering in view of Covid-19 menace. The Kanwar Yatra has already been suspended due to the pandemic.
KVT chief executive officer Gaurang Rathi, who is also municipal commissioner and CEO of VSCL, said, “The Shrawan month begins on July 6 and five Mondays will fall in the holy month this year. Despite all restrictions, there is a possibility of huge turnout of devotees for offering prayers in Shrawan month.”
“In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, all necessary arrangements have been made to ensure safety of devotees and preventing spread of infection,” he added. “Devotees come to offer prayers in huge numbers during Shrawan month every year, but due to Covid-19 restrictions this year it will not be possible to have the usual rush. So, we decided to install two unipolar LED screens at Ravidas Gate in Lanka area and another at Bhojubir for live darshan and prayers in the sanctum sanctorum of KVT. Besides, eight more LED screens will be installed in the city but recorded visuals will be shown on them,” he said.
The LED screens have been installed after assessing that traffic movement will not be hit in case people gather at the spot, he added.
The rules for entry, exit of devotees and their time of stay in temple are already being followed as per government guidelines, Rathi said.
“During Shrawan month also, devotees will maintain social distancing in queues. Wearing a mask and sanitising hands at entry will be must. Only a limited number of devotees will be allowed entry at a time. They will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum. No sparsh darshan (touching jyotirlinga) will be permitted," he added.
Devotees will be allowed entry from Pancho Pandav, Chhattadwar and Dhundiraj Ganesh points. The temple premises will be sanitised every six hours while ambulances will be there on the standby.
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