A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Tamil Nadu government on Monday restricted the number of persons to be allowed inside places of worship of different faiths to 20, and also advocated for a token system in case of bigger temples by residents providing Aadhaar or ID card in order to get specific time slots to visit.
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Not more than 20 persons should be allowed in an area of 100 sq. mtr. or 1,075 sq.ft. in case of temples and Hindu religious places, the SOP issued by Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam said. Physical distancing of a minimum of six feet should be maintained when queueing up for the purchase of darshan tickets.
Offerings such as coconuts, fruits, flowers, etc shall not be allowed. “During the pooja and abishekam, the general public, including donors shall not be allowed to sit inside and witness the event,” it specified. “Persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home,” it said.
The guidelines for mosques said “Prayers should not be offered by standing shoulder to shoulder. Two meter (six feet) physical distance shall be maintained while offering prayer and not more than 20 persons can be accommodated in 100 sq.mtr. or 1,075 sq.ft.”
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In churches, bells and other objects shall not be touched by the devotees and the use of liturgical booklets and hymnals shall be suspended, it said. “Activities such as choir and singing shall not be done, instead recorded music alone may be played,” it said.
The SOP also framed guidelines to be followed by gurudwaras, Buddist vihars and other religious places of worship for Jains and Parsis. The SOP issued by the government in this regard can be accessed on The Hindu portal at: http://bit.ly/SOPsPlacesofWorship