Indore: Want to "meet" the God. Want to visit HIS abode. Hold on, your "access" to the Almighty may not be that easy anymore. Gone are the days when you frequented temples with your family and friends and sat at the premises for hours to seek solace, sought obseisance from the God, had a good darshan from close proximity, got to enter the sanctum sanctorum and sought his blessings.
ACT II, scene 1... post-Covid scenario. The shrines will be 'protected'. And the government has laid down some rules for the devotees. Free Press, went on a trek to find out the actual scenario which will prevail.
Shrines are preparing to control crowd and ensure social distancing with banners, strict norms and limiting entry. The decision for major temples like Khajrana and preparation is yet to be discussed by district collector Manish Singh.
No more rush allowed in temples
“As of now, this is clear that we will not allow devotees in the Garb Grah that is the sanctum sanctorum. Devotees will be allowed to worship from a distance of 20 to 25 feet,” Satpal Bhatt, head priest of Khajrana temple, said.
He added, "There will be a leash on the number of people entering the temple premises at a particular time. “Further, every devotee will be allowed only a minute or so, so that there's no assembly and gathering for ‘darshan’.”
To ensure that there is no chance of contamination inside the temple premises, every person would be sanitised at the entrance. “A check-up with thermal screening will be done on entry followed by sanitisation as basic prevention,” Bhatt said.
Similar prevention measures have already been taken in other major temples, including Ranjeet Hanuman, Bade Ganpati, Annapurna temple, Gommat Giri Jain temple, Vaishno Mata temple, Bijasan temple, Venkateshwar temple, Ayyappa temple, Chaupan dham and others.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS
The Union health ministry issued the standard operating protocol (SOP) for lockdown relaxations that will kick in from June 8 as part of the government’s ‘Unlock 1’ plan.
*Only religious places outside containment zones will be allowed to open. “Persons above 65 years of age, persons with comorbidities, pregnant woman and children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home,” the SOP states.
*Posters should be put up and audio and videos messages played to spread further awareness about preventive measures. Touching of idols, holy books and statues will not be allowed, and distances will have to be maintained in queues through markings.
*According to the guidelines, “as far as feasible”, recorded devotional music may be played, but choirs will not be allowed. Physical offerings like holy water will not be permitted and devotees have to bring their own prayer mats.
'Armoured' MallsBefore entering the mall, one will have to enter a sanitisation tunnel, undergo thermal and further follow protocols of sanitisation. “Further, every floor will have foot press sanitisers that must be used while using washrooms and after touching or interacting with anything,” Amit Arora, mall manager, said.
