THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has allowed the entry of devotees into temples attached to it from the Malayalam New Year of Chingam 1, falling on August 17.
The TDB has also decided to mark the auspicious day with a special ‘Ganapathy Homam’ ritual that devotees can attend in all 1250 temples under it except Sabarimala. The entry of devotees will be restricted to five at a time inside the temple complex and by following other COVID-19 protocols.
“The special ritual is to mark the beginning of the year on an auspicious note,” said TDB president N Vasu. “The public can also make regular offerings at the temple.”
The temples have remained closed for more than four months as a precaution against the pandemic. The temple advisory committees will be informed about the rituals and the protocol.
The state has made COVID-19 negative certificates mandatory for the Sabarimala pilgrimage scheduled to be held from November 16 to January 14. It will be conducted as per the COVID-19 protocol and the number of devotees will be restricted through the virtual queue system.