One of the celebrated Shakti Peethas of Hindu religion Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam has reopened from Sunday. However, devotees are only allowed to perform parikrama, which means the circumambulation ritual of sacred places. The Devalaya Management Committee of the temple has decided to open the temple gates for the devotees just to perform parikrama.
The temple committee on Saturday issued a statement which states that every devotee will get 15 minutes to perform the ritual to maintain the social distancing. And as of now, the main doors of the temple leading to the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine will remain closed due to COVID-19 pandemic and not increase crowd.
According to a spokesperson from the temple management committee, “The inner sanctum sanctorum will remain closed. This has been done as per discussion with the district administration. The devotees and others will have to follow COVID guidelines issued by the government to prevent the spread of the virus.”
As per the statement, the complex gate will remain open from 8 AM till sunset on normal days but the timings of gate opening may change during Navratri and Durga Puja festival in the coming months.
The statement further instructs that the devotees visiting the temple will have to undergo a rapid antigen test at the medical camp which has been set up by the health department near the entry point at Nursery of Kamakhya Foothill. Devotees who get negative COVID-19 results can go inside the temple for performing the parikrama after showing the test results.
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The devotees will be allowed to go inside the temple only after their reports have been checked by the security person. Every devotee visiting the temple will be checked. An entry card will be issued from the Annakshetra office set right in front of Chinnamasta/Kameswar Mandir. The visiting devotees will have to carry the card to be able to proceed to the Devalaya complex. Then the devotees will have to undergo thermal screening and sanitation at the main gate.
Since March 20, the temple has remained closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.