Vijayawada: Durga temple darshan timings changed

Vijayawada: Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy temple (Sri Durga temple) administration has changed the timings for the darshan. The devotees will be allowed into the temple from 6.30 am to 7.30 pm only.

In a press release on Sunday, the temple administration announced that all Arjitaseva programmes are performed indirectly on the temple premises. Panchaharatulu, EkantaSeva and other rituals will be performed by the temple priests only. Devotees will not be allowed into the temple by ghat road and through Maha mandapam route after 7 pm.

Antaralayam Darsanam is cancelled and all devotees and the temple staff must wear masks on the temple premises and six feet physical distance should be maintained in view of the Covid cases increasing in the city and State.

The temple staff checks the temperature at the entrance and allows the devotees into the temple. The temple administration decided to spray sodium hypochlorite every hour in the queues, rest rooms and other places.

The temple administration decided to impose penalty of Rs200 on the staff for not wearing Covid mask in the temple or on the duty.

On the other hand, the footfall of devotees visiting the Durga temple drastically declined in recent days due to the impact of second wave of Covid. More than 20,000 devotees used to visit the temple. Now, the number of devotees visiting the temple declined to around 5,000.

The income on sale of tickets, sale of laddus, pulihora and other puja articles also drastically decreased. Now, the second wave badly affected the revenue. The fear of Covid cases also haunts the temple staff as the covid pandemic creates havoc in the State.

The total cases in the State crossed one million mark and more than 12,000 fresh cases reported in the State on Sunday.