Covid scare: Temples register low footfall on 1st day of saawan

Done/ALVI
Drop in devotees’ footfall in city’s Shiva temples due to corona pandemic
Kapil.Dixit
Prayagraj: With strict Covid-19 precautionary measures, like wearing of masks and following social distancing norms put in place, prominent Shiva temples across the city recorded low turnout of devotees this year as compared to the previous year.
While devotees started reaching temples early Monday, they were strictly asked to follow social distancing norms by the committee members of temples and the police.
Chief priest of the famous Takshkeshwarnath temple, Ravi Shankar told TOI that the Takshkeshwarnath temple, which used to witness thousands of devotees on the first Somvar of Shravan month, recorded very low footfall on Monday.
Sudden rise in Covid-19 infections in the city has forced devotees to keep themselves inside the four walls of their houses, he said and added “We strictly followed the Covid-19 protocol and no devotee could enter the temple premises without mask”. Similarly, circles were drawn on the temple campus to maintain distance between two devotees, and they were not allowed to touch bells and idols, he said.
The chief priest claimed that the temple campus had been sanitized and awareness posters were placed at different parts of the temple.
Priest of Rajapur Shiva temple, RK Tiwari said,”The footfall of devotees has dropped at the temple this year. We have not allowed them to touch the idols. They are being asked to perform the ‘jalabhishek’ while maintaining a distance from the idol”.
There were fixed timings for the devotees to offer prayers at the famous Mankameshwar temple. They were allowed to visit temples from 7 am to 11 am and 3 pm to 5 pm and as a result their footfall has declined compared to the previous year.
The committee members ensured strict compliance with all social distancing rules in all prominent Shiva temples including Mankameshwar Padila Mahadeo, Someshwar Nath, Takshkeshwarnath Teerth etc.
IG KP Singh said, “The footfall of devotees has recorded low at all prominent Shiva temples on the first Somvar of the Shravan month as compared to the previous year due to corona pandemic”. The devotees who arrived to offer prayers were also thermal scanned, he said.
Priests refrained from offering ‘prasad or putting ‘tilak’ on devotees to keep the virus at bay.