As part of the precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Coimbatore District Administration has ordered the closure of prominent temples to avoid gathering of devotees in large numbers.
According to officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, the temples will remain closed only for the devotees, while the rituals will continue inside the temple as per the agama rules. Temple staff will also be present inside the temples for security purposes, officials said. Based on orders from District Collector K. Rajamani, the temples were shut on Thursday evening and will remain closed until further orders till March 31.
Some of the 19 temples closed in the district are Subramaniyaswami Temple, Marudamalai; Pateeswarar Temple, Perur, Koniamman Temple, Town Hall; Thandu Mariamman Temple, Avinashi Road; Vanabadrakaliamman Temple, Thekkampatti, and Ranganathaswamy temple, Karamadai.
An official from the Marudamalai temple said that about 16 temple staff were working inside the temple. The premises were being cleaned and disinfected regularly and awareness programmes held for the staff, the official said.
The Athar Jamaath Mosque in Big Bazaar Street curtailed its Friday prayer (Jummah) time to 20 minutes. According to Ashik Ahmed, an administrator at the mosque, the prayer service usually lasts for about 1.5 hours, but the mosque decided to cut it short to ensure the safety of devotees. “All mosques in the district are doing this,” he claimed. However, Mr. Ahmed said that there were no plans to close any mosques as on Friday.
An official from the Coimbatore Diocese said that there were no plans to close any churches, including St. Antony’s Church in Puliakulam. “We have suspended all our liturgical activities,” he said, adding that no particular announcements regarding Sunday Masses have been made yet. District Collector K. Rajamani said that the District Administration has appealed to the concerned authorities regarding closures of mosques and churches in Coimbatore district.
Tiruppur
In Tiruppur district, the HR&CE Department has closed as many as 51 temples including Vetri Velayudhaswami Temple, Uthukuli and Lakshmi Narasimhar Temple, Avinashi. Around 186 churches are closed and prayer timings in 127 mosques have been reduced to 10 minutes in the district, Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan said.
Adiyogi, Dhyanalinga closed to visitors
Isha Yoga Centre announced on Friday that the premises of Adiyogi and Dhyanalinga will be closed to visitors until further notice in accordance with the Central government’s precautionary measures for COVID-19. According to a release, Isha Foundation’s founder Jaggi Vasudev has postponed his engagements scheduled for the end of March in Mumbai and African countries.
