Tirupati: At last, Srikalahasti temple to open on June 17

Tirupati: After witnessing various developments amid coronavirus pandemic, the famous Shivaite shrine Srikalahasteeswara Swamy Devasthanam is finally all set to welcome devotees to have darshan of the presiding deity.

The temple management has decided to open the temple for darshan from Monday afternoon. However the devotees will be allowed from June 17 after conducting trial run for the first two days.

Executive officer of the Devasthanam C Chandrasekhar Reddy told the media on Saturday evening that the temple will be reopened with 'Santhi Abhishekam' to be performed to Lord Shiva and Goddess Gnana Prasunambika on Monday afternoon followed by darshan to employees.

Following the directions of the Endowments department, along with all other Shivaite temples, 'Sahasra Kalasabhishekam', 'Satha Rudreeyam' and 'Mruthyunjaya Japam' will be he held at Srikalahasti temple from morning to afternoon.

After that, locals will be allowed for darshan. From June 17, all devotees can have darshan of the Lord duly following all safety measures prescribed by the government. Only 300 devotees will be allowed for darshan per hour, the EO clarified.

Social distancing, masks and other things need to be followed by everyone visiting the temple. Soaps and water will be provided to make devotees wash their hands and legs before entering the temple. Leg operated sanitisers will be pressed into use.

Only 300 tickets will be issued per hour for Rahu-Kethu pujas which is one third of actual capacity. The EO advised that persons above the age of 65 and below 10 years should not come for darshan. Those having symptoms like fever, cold and cough also will not be allowed.

Though, it was decided to open the temple from June 12, it had to be deferred as one employee tested positive in Covid test. With this, the entire temple premises was disinfected and subsequently decision was taken to reopen it.

It was learnt that so far 370 samples of employees and the people around the temple were tested and only one tested positive while about 150 results are still awaited.