While the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala was gearing up to reopen for devotees from next week after a gap of six months, the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in the state has been closed as 12 persons associated with the temple, including 'Periyanambi' (chief priest) got Covid-19 infection.
The annual 'Alpashi' festival of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple scheduled to be held from this month has been also put off, while regular poojas would be conducted by the temple priests without allowing devotees. The temple reopened for devotees after the lockdown by the end of August.
The executive officer of the temple V Ratheesan told DH that adequate precautions like testing the temperature of devotees and ensuring social distancing were made. The maximum number of devotees daily was restricted to 650. He further said that temple employees and priests getting the infection through flowers used for rituals could not be ruled out.
The spread of Covid-19 at Sree Padmanabha Swami temple, which is known for its priceless treasure, is likely to trigger concerns over reopening Sabarimala Ayyappa temple for devotees from next week, especially since the number of devotees at Sabarimala would be higher than that of Sree Padmanabhaswami temple.
N Vasu, president of Travancore Devaswom Board that manages the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, said that it was in view of the risk of Covid-19 spread that adequate precautionary measures like insisting on no-Covid certificates was being made.
As per the present plan devotees will be allowed from October 16 at Sabarimala when the temple opens for monthly pooja. The two-month-long annual pilgrimage season will begin on November 15. The number of pilgrims daily would be restricted to 1,000 on weekdays and 2,000 on weekends. The entry of devotees would be strictly restricted though the existing virtual queue system.