100 days later, two temples to make cautious reopening

Margao: After remaining closed for over 100 days, two major temples of Goa have announced their reopening plans. Shree Shantadurga Devasthan, Kavlem, will reopen on Monday while Shree Mahalaxmi Devasthan Bandiwade, in Ponda, will unlock its gates on Tuesday.
The rest of the major temples have decided to defer their reopening until further review of the Covid-19 situation.Mangesh Devasthan, Priol, has extended its closure until July 19. It will review the pandemic situation on July 12.
“Except for these two, the managing committees of all other temples weren’t in favour of reopening the temples in view of the rising number of Covid cases across Goa,” president of Ramnath Devasthan, Pravas Naik, told TOI after the meeting of representatives of nine major temples held at Mardol on Sunday.
“It’s not that the temples are entirely shut. All rituals are being conducted by the purohits in the presence of a very limited number of devotees. If anybody wants to visit the temple and pay his obeisance to the god/deity, he is welcome to do so by taking prior permission.”
Shree Shantadurga Devasthan has put in place elaborate standard operating procedure (SOP) along the lines of guidelines issued by the government for reopening of religious bodies. “We have also decided to resume individual koul prasad from July 10,” president of Shree Shantadurga Devasthan, Triloknath Borkar said.