Keonjhar: The iconic Tarini Temple at Ghatagaon in Keonjhar district was opened Monday after being closed for 10 months following the COVID-19 outbreak.
As it was decided earlier, the servitors and their family members were allowed to offer puja first. They visited the shrine between 8:00 am and 9:00 am.
Thereafter, other devotees were allowed into the shrine. They followed the guidelines issued by the Maa Tarini Thakurani Temple Trust Board. Police officials and volunteers were seen managing the crowd.
The guidelines say that the temple will open at 6:00 am but darshan of the goddess will be restricted to two phases — from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm and from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
Devotees will enter the shrine from gate no- 3 where there is a sanitisation facility and exit from gate no-4.
People coming to the shrine for puja of their new vehicles will enter from gate no-5. Entry of children below 10 years has been restricted. Tonsuring of children has been stopped for the time being.
Similarly, there will be no cooked prasad on offer inside the temple. And, taking coconuts, flowers, lamps and incense sticks have also been restricted. The shops inside the temple will remain closed till further orders by the district administration.
At any given time, there will be no more than 25 to 30 devotees inside the shrine. Use of masks and maintaining of social distancing will be mandatory inside and outside the temple. Besides, barricades have been installed to ensure proper entry into the shrine.
PNN
