People above 65, children below 10 and pregnant women must not visit temples: K'taka govt

Bengaluru: With temples scheduled to open for public from June 8, as per unlock 1.0 norms, the Karnataka government on Saturday asked people above 65, those below 10 years and pregnant women to cooperate by staying at home until further orders, and banned entry of those ill.

The department of Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments (Muzrai) in an announcement along with a circular said, only “darshan” will be allowed at A, B and C category temples that come under it, and has banned all kinds of temple fairs and “sevas” temporarily until further orders.

There are over 34,000 temples in the state that come under the Muzrai department. Though the temples are holding daily poojas and rituals, they were not open to the public till now, with COVID-19 induced lockdown restrictions in place.

Calling for maintaining cleanliness at temple premises and entrance, it said, the body temperature of the devotees entering should be checked with an infrared thermometer and hand sanitisers should be used.

Mandating social distancing of 6 feet, it further said, marks have to be made for devotees to stand in a queue as per the requirement at each temple, and those without face cover or masks will not be let in.

Devotees should leave their footwear in their vehicle or at a separate place, and will not be allowed in temple premises. The department has advised those visiting temples not to touch walls, pillars, statues, chariots among other things there.

Arogya Setu app should be downloaded by devotees coming to temple and also the temple staff, it said. The Department has asked temples to put instruction boards with guidelines issued by the government for the sake of public notice.