The Kalighat temple in Kolkata re-opened on Wednesday after remaining closed for months due to the lockdown imposed to contain Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Day-long sanitisation was held at the temple premises throughout Tuesday.
Five sanitisation gates have been installed for entry and exit of devotees, though only two will remain open for a while now. Temperature checks will be conducted, and devotees have to enter wearing masks. At any given point of time, 10 devotees will be allowed inside and they will be allowed to remain inside only for a specified time, not longer. Two time slots have been fixed for now – between 6 am to 12 noon and 4 pm to 6.30 pm — when the temple will remain open to devotees.
The entire procedure will be monitored by the police, as there is the possibility of a rush since the temple is opening after a long time, and whoever turns up may not eventually be allowed to go inside.
As of now, devotees are not being allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum, and they have to offer prayers from outside. This was decided in order to maintain the social distancing rules – as the space within the sanctum sanctorum is limited and it won’t be possible to maintain a reasonable distance.
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