BENGALURU: Temples and mosques will reopen on Monday, while Catholic churches will wait till June 13. Muzarai Minister Srinivasa Poojary told TNIE that they were prepared to reopen the temples from June 1 and even had a meeting with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, but waited till June 8 because of the Union government’s revised guidelines.
No ‘prasadam’ or ‘theertha’ will be given to devotees at temples and those below ten years and above 65 years will not be allowed. Everyone has to wear a mask and maintain social distancing. The guidelines stated that there should be mandatory thermal screening and soap/sanitisers at all religious places. At a recent meeting, religious authorities had told officials that all norms will be followed strictly.
The mosque authorities too have put out a note saying they will start their prayers from Monday. S A Rashadi, Amir e-Shariyat of Karnataka, said they will not provide prayer mats or water for ablution at mosques and everyone has to bring their own mats. While many mosques will open at 5 am for Fazar, some will reopen at 1 pm for the Zohar namaz.
No one will be allowed to stay after the prayer service and people cannot gather in groups to chat. Archbishop Peter Machado said the Catholic churches will reopen only on June 13 after sufficiently sensitising the staff and abiding by all the norms the government has put out. Churches of other denominations are reopening on Monday. Pastor Joshua Prabhakar said the Brethern Churches will reopen after about a month or two depending on the situation. “We don’t want to put anyone at risk by reopening our places of worship,” he said.