No rush as Guruvayur temple opens for devotees

No rush as Guruvayur temple opens for devotees

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thrissur:10.06.2020

Devotees entered the Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple on Tuesday, after a gap of about 80 days, following the relaxation of the lockdown rules.

However, contrary to the popular assessments that there will be a heavy rush of devotees to enter the temple, much less than the permitted number had turned up on the first day.

According to the devaswom administrator, S Sisir, only 88 devotees had come to the temple, though 284 had booked online requesting for darshan. The devaswom had in fact announced its decision to allow 600 devotees to enter the temple each day. Three marriages were also held on Tuesday at the temple kalyanamandapam. The devaswom had in fact decided to give sanction to conduct 60 marriages per day at the temple.

The bookings for darshan in the coming days are also reported to be not high. The devaswom has so far received only less than 1,000 requests for free darshan till June 13, when the present online registration will continue.

Devaswom sources said suspension of private buses and campaigns by some Hindu outfits against opening of the temple could have contributed to the dip in the arrival of devotees. But more than anything else, apprehensions about the possibilities of getting infection appear to be a major reason which deters the heavy flow of devotees to the temple. They are also worried of the need for going under quarantine if any of the devotees tests positive later.

The devaswom had put in place elaborate systems for ensuring that the devotees adhere to the norms of physical distancing and sanitisation to avert Covid-19 infection.

Only 88 devotees visited Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple on Tuesday