BHUBANESWAR: Religious institutions including the 11th century Lord Lingaraj temple in the State Capital will re-open for devotees from February 12. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has permitted reopening of all places of worship in the city with strict adherence to Covid safety protocols. The civic body, however, said only those who are fully vaccinated, if eligible, will be allowed inside the religious institutions after producing the hard or soft copy of the inoculation certificate. Temple, mosque, church and gurudwara managements in the city have been asked to take measures in this regard.
As per the guidelines of the civic body, no devotee will be allowed inside the Garbha Gruha of the temple. Darshan will be allowed from a safe distance and there will be no offering of bhoga. Children below the age of 15 years will be allowed inside the places of worship with proper verification of identification and only under the supervision of their parents or relatives.
In Lingaraj temple, maximum 100 devotees will be allowed for darshan at any point of time. However, sahan darshan and Garbha Gruha darshan remain prohibited till further orders. The devotees shall be required to bring their photo ID proof like Aadhaar/Voter ID or any other for identification. The rituals in the religious institutions will be performed by the priests and sevayats who are fully vaccinated.