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COVID-19 Lockdowns and Religious Observance: Patterns and Issues in India
Traditions in India have been upended in countless ways because of lockdown restrictions and fears around the COVID-19 virus. Even with the recent cautious reopening, patterns are distorted. The Tirupati temple, for example, reopened to the public after 80 days, but visitors are to undergo voluntary coronavirus tests, and approaches to the temple are altered to enforce physical distancing and prevent the traditional jostling, pushing, and pulling among pilgrims. At Delhi’s
Jama Masjid, worshipers gathered for the first time since March, bringing their own prayer mats and kneeling on spots designated with yellow stickers on the white marble floor. People older than 60 and younger than 15 are encouraged to pray at home. In central Delhi, a temple devoted to the Hindu god Hanuman marked Monday’s reopening with a pair of celebratory drummers and a person-size booth that sprayed all visitors with jets of sanitizer. At the
Golden Temple in Amritsar, visitors are required to wear masks and will undergo temperature checks as they circumambulate the shrine. “Our religion and traditions do not allow us to close the temple for anyone, no matter what,” said Gobind Singh Longowal, the president of the committee that manages Sikh temples, or gurdwaras, in India. But the number of devotees visiting the Golden Temple dropped from 150,000 a day to 3,000. Prayer will “boost the morale and confidence of devotees to fight the disease,” but the watchword is care.
Some Indian states decided it was too soon, including Maharashtra, with the highest number of cases in India. In Kerala state, the ashram founded by Amma, renowned as India’s
“hugging saint,” is still closed. “Amma’s tradition is to embrace everyone who comes to her,” so the ashram may require some more time before it is safe for it to be open to the public.
(Based on: June 8, 2020, Washington Post article.)