THRISSUR: The Guruvayur Devaswom will allow devotees to enter the Sree Krishna temple in limited numbers from September 10. Devaswom administrator S V Sesir said 1,000 devotees will be allowed to enter the temple per day after they book their visit through the virtual queue system. “All devotees should follow social distancing and will be subjected to health screening before entering,” Sesir said.
The temple had banned devotees’ entry inside the temple after Covid cases surged across the state.
The Devaswom management committee also decided to increase the number of weddings allowed per day at the temple from the present 50 to 60.
Since there are a lot of ‘muhurtham’ (auspicious time) in the Malayalam month of Chingam, the temple had been receiving several requests to allow more weddings in a day.
Meanwhile, devotees on Sunday offered ‘Kazhchakula’ to Lord Krishna which is a ritual practised on Uthradam day.
Since Covid protocol and restrictions were in place, the ritual was conducted with minimum attendance inside the temple.
Chief priest Pazhayam Satheesan Namboothiri offered the first Kazhchakula followed by other priests. Special arrangements were made for devotees to offer ‘Kazhchakula’ outside the temple. Chengalikkodan bananas were used as the offering.
A portion of the offering was taken for various needs inside the temple while another portion was given to elephants in the Punnathoorkotta.