Now, a temple for ‘Corona devi’ in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: The current situation more or like resembles the one in the early 1900s when the district was badly hit by the plague, which took a heavy toll by revisiting the district again and again. While the residents turned to Plague Mariamman Temple then, the present generation has set up a temple for the “Goddess Corona Devi” to contain the contagion.
Set up by the authorities of Kamatchipuri Adhinam, the temple has come up on their premises at Kamatchipuram near Irugur on the outskirts of the city.
This is the second shrine to come up for “Corona Devi” in South India. In June last, a temple priest from Kadakkal in Kollam district in Kerala had installed the idol of the deity in a makeshift shrine attached to his house to ward off the fear of the virus.
A source with the Kamatchipuri Adhinam said, “When people were suffering from the plague and other deadly diseases a few centuries ago, they had started worshipping the god, who they believed could only help them during the difficult times. Later, the place where they worshipped the god was turned into a temple. Similarly, we have created and consecrated “Corona Devi” - a black stone idol that is about 1.5ft long. We strongly believe that the goddess will protect people from Covid-19.”

While the consecration ceremony was conducted on Tuesday, poojas were performed from Wednesday. The source said they would be performing special prayers for 48 days. However, devotees and general public would not be allowed to participate in the prayers because of the pandemic situation. In a video released by the Adhinam, Sri Sivalingeswara Swamigal urged the public to follow all the government guidelines - stay at home, consume healthy foods and cooperate with the government to contain the virus spread. “Following in on the footsteps of our ancestors, we have installed an idol of “Corona Devi” because we believe god will help the hapless.” He asked the public to pray from their houses.
The Plague Mariamman Temple, which is located between Big Bazaar and Raja Streets, is more than 150 years old. When the city was affected by plague, seeking divine succour, people had reportedly offered prayers at the temple.