The famous Vindhyachal temple of Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district has been reopened on Monday after a halt of 100 days due to the lockdown pertaining to deadly coronavirus.
The temple had been remained closed since the lockdown and has been remained closed even after June 8 when most of the temples reopened in Unlock 1.0.
The Vindhya Panda Samaj (VPS) had decided to close the Vindhyachal temple and other temples of the triad, including Kalikhoh and Ashtabhuja, on March 20 in view of the pandemic.
The VPS did not reopen the temples on June 8 because one of the priests had tested positive for corona.
“We decided to reopen the temple after all plans for crowd control, arrangements related to safety as per the guidelines of the government were discussed and implemented,” VPS president Pankaj Dwivedi said.
“An ‘Akhand Kirtan’ (mass religious recital) by selected priests was organised on Sunday afternoon with the performance of ‘Rajshree aarti’,” he added.
He said that devotees will have to stand within circles drawn to maintain social distancing and wait for their entry in the temple after wearing masks and sanitizing hands.
The Vindhyachal temples, located about 8 km from Mirzapur, on the banks of the holy river Ganga, is dedicated to Goddess Vindhyavasini (daughter of Yashoda-Nanda) and is one of the most revered ‘Siddhapeeth’ of the presiding deity.