LUCKNOW: With the nine-day Chaitra
Navratri set to begin on Tuesday, prominent
temples have mandated that only those
devotees will be allowed to join puja who follow
Covid protocol.
Preparations were underway at Chowk’s Badi Kali Ji Mandir, Chandrika Devi Mandir, Kali Badi temple, and Hanuman Setu, among others. Temples have also made arrangements for live-streaming of ‘aarti’ via social media.
Devotees at Chandrika
Devi Temple will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Only five devotees at a time will be allowed to enter the temple only after thermal screening and use of sanitizer. Annual ‘Navratri Mela’ and ‘kanya bhojan’ have been cancelled to check overcrowding.
Badi Kali Ji temple at Chowk will ask devotees to enter through a sanitization door. “Thermal checkups, sanitization machines and Covid help desk will be in place at the temple,” said Neeraj Tiwari, head priest of the temple. Similar arrangements have been made at Kaiserbagh’s Kali Badi Temple.
The temple management committee at Hanuman Setu will sanitize the premises at regular intervals and live-stream ‘aarti’ on its official Facebook page.
At Mankameshwar Temple, devotees will not be allowed to sit for extra hours. “Volunteers will keep a vigil so that no devotee breaches any rule. Thermal scanners and sanitizer dispensers will be placed at both the gates,” said Mahant Divyagiri, head priest of the temple.