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Major temples across Tamil Nadu to be shut for public darshan till March 31

In addition to temples, churches and mosques frequented by large crowds have also been asked to shut till March 31 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tamil Nadu government announced the closure of major temples across the state as part of its efforts to deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Beginning Friday, March 20, temples including the Murugan temple in Chennai’s Vadapalani, the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and the Ranganatha Swamy temple in Srirangam, Trichy will be shut for public darshans. The closure is set to be in place at temples where large crowds are usually seen. The temporary shutdown of darshans will last till March 31, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said in a press release on Thursday.

However, temples have been asked to carry out pujas as per usual.

Other temples that will be shut include the Thiruvallikeni Parthasarathy temple, Mylapore Kapaleeswarar temple, Tiruchendur Murugan temple, Rameshwaram Ramanathaswamy temple, Palani Murugan temple, Tiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar temple, Tiruthani Murugan temple, Kanchi Kamatchi temple and the Trichy Samayapuram Mariamman temple.

“Similarly, district collectors have been asked to talk to concerned trustees of big churches, mosques and dargahs where people gather in large numbers and advise them to temporarily halt the arrival of people till March 31 as well as ask them to ensure that the closure is adhered to,” the Chief Minister’s statement said.

The closure of public places comes as the state begins to put in place containment measures even as Tamil Nadu reported its third positive case of COVID-19 on Thursday. A 21-year-old student, who had returned from Dublin, Ireland on March 17, reported to Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on Wednesday with symptoms. 

As part of preventive measures, the Health and Family Welfare Department said that as of March 19, a total of 1,94,236 passengers had been screened at Chennai, Trichy, Madurai and Coimbatore airports. Out of these, 3,481 people are under home quarantine for 28 days and 39 are under hospital isolation, said the State Control Room, Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

Source: The News Minute