Karnataka Imposes New Restrictions On Public Celebration

The Karnataka government had released new rules to combat the transmission of Covid-19 ahead of Vaikunta Ekadashi and Sankranti. According to government rules,just regular 'pooja' is permitted at temples, and a maximum of 50 fully vaccinated devotees are permitted for 'darshan' at a time.

Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar explained that the new regulations. He said that the religious events will be permitted in temples, as long as they are limited to the temple's inner precincts. Kumar noted in the ruling, No sevas and other activities are permitted. Meantime, ISKCON will celebrate Vaikunta Ekadasi on Thursday, but due to Covid-19 limitations, the temple in Rajajinagar, Bengaluru, would remain closed to the public.

The authorities of ISKCON temple mentioned on Wednesday that preventative measures will be followed in places, as ordered by the state government for the sake of public safety. Darshan will be limited. A live telecast of the whole ceremony would be provided on the temple's official website and other social media platforms. It will give the devotees an opportunity to be a part of the celebration despite the fact that they will not be able to be a part like earlier. The state government is taking important measures to build a balance between the restrictions and festivals.

Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 21,390 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, with 10 deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 30,99,519 and the death count to 38,389. On Wednesday, 15,617 new cases were reported from Bengaluru Urban, with 874 persons being discharged and 6 deaths. There are currently 93,099 active cases across the state.