Ponda: In view of the spurt in COVID-19 cases in the state, almost all prominent temples in Ponda taluka have started closing their gates for devotees as a precautionary measure against the pandemic.
The major temples that have decided to shut their doors for the public include the famous Shree Manguesh Devasthan at Mangueshi, Shree Mahalasa Temple at Mardol and Shree Kamakshi Temple at Shiroda. These temples are major tourist destinations in Ponda.
The temples of Ponda, which usually witness a rush of devotees, have now completely closed their main gates with notices placed at the entrances and security guards deployed to bar the entry of people into the temple premises. Only the temple staff and priests are being allowed in as was the case last year when the first wave of COVID had hit the state.
This time, Mardol’s Shree Mahalasa Temple was the first to close down for its devotees; the management closed the temple last week. This was followed by Shree Kamakshi Temple, which shut its doors for the public on April 23.
The management of Shree Manguesh Devasthan arrived at a decision on April 25 to close the temple for devotees from Monday onwards. After obtaining ‘kaul prasad’ of the deity, the committee decided to close the temple for all visitors owing to the rising number of COVID cases in the state, president of the temple management body Subray Nadkarni said, speaking to this daily. He said the temple rituals will continue on a regular basis though entry for people including mahajans will be restricted until further notice.
Several other smaller temple managements too have taken a decision to close the doors for the public in view of the rising cases. Some temple management committees are, however, allowing only a few people to enter the temples.
Temple committee president of Shree Shantadurga Devasthan at Kavlem Triloknath Borkar said, “Our committee too has closed the main gate of the temple, but locals, people and a few devotees who request us for a visit to the temple are allowed in by following the strict standard operating procedure. Due to the scare of COVID, people in any case are not visiting the temples like they did earlier. Hardly 10 to 15 people visit these days,” he said.