Amid rising cases of COVID-19, the illumination of Mysuru palace and the Sound and Light programme held on its premises have been temporarily suspended.
The palace used to be illuminated between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sundays and public holidays. The illumination has been cancelled on April 11, 13, 14, 18 and 25, besides May 1 and 2, said a statement from Deputy Director of Mysuru Palace Board. During this period, the general public will also not be allowed into the palace premises.
The Palace Board has suspended Sound and Light programme between April 10 and 30, according to the statement.
Even the Ugadi Sangeethothsava, which used to be organised every year, will not be held this year, the statement added.
However, the palace will remain open to visitors between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on all days.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Mysuru Palace Board Subramanya told The Hindu that the illumination on Sundays and public holidays was cancelled to avoid large gatherings. About 3,000 to 4,000 people would gather on the palace premises to enjoy the illumination usually.
“The number of visitors to the palace had now dwindled to barely 1,000 per day”, he said and added that Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were in place for entry of visitors. The SOP includes wearing of mask and undergoing a check of body temperature through a contactless digital thermometer.
266 cases
Meanwhile, the number of positive cases reported from Mysuru continued to remain high with a total of 266 cases reported on Saturday, taking the total positive cases from the district to 57,934.
Five persons suffering from COVID-19 died during the last 24 hours in the district.
However, 115 persons were discharged on Saturday, taking the cumulative discharges from Mysuru district to 55,026. The number of active cases in Mysuru district was 1,828 on Saturday.
