Chittoor: Kanipakam temple officials advise pilgrims to postpone a visit by three weeks

Chittoor: Flow of pilgrims to the famous Sidhi Vinayaka temple in Kanipakam has been reduced drastically in recent weeks due to coronavirus scare bringing down income to the temple.

Speaking to The Hans India, V Devullu , Executive Officer, Kanipakam temple said, " On an average, 12,000 to 15,000 devotees used to visit the temple per day and the number increases steeply on Sundays and Mondays .But during the past few weeks, the inflow of the devotees has come down drastically. "

He said that the management of the temple has decided to distribute masks to all the devotees of the temple at free of cost , insisting it a mandatory to wear the masks.

He said that the temple would bear the cost of the masks in the interest of the devotees and to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Puthalapattu MLA M S Babu has come forward to procure the required number of masks from Bengaluru and Vellore districts.

Mean while, the pilgrims are advised to postpone their pilgrimage to Kanipakam temple for another three weeks as a precautionary measure.

There was a proposal to supply garlic to the pilgrims in the meal under Nityannadana Scheme ( free meal ) as one of the natural remedy for facing any type of virus, he added.