Thiruvananthapuram, June 8 (PTI) Cleaning up operations were held in several temples across Kerala, which will open for devotees on Tuesday after over two-and-half-months of coronavirus induced lockdown, but BJP and Hindu Aikya Vedi hit out at thestate government dubbing as 'hasty' the decision to allow darshan.

The LDF government said it decided to open the temple in line with the Centre's Unlock-1 guidelines and said those opposing the move had earlier wanted devotees to be allowed.

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According to the standard operating procedure, social distancing should be followed in all the places of worship and devotees should wear face mask among other precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be no 'prasad' distributed to devotees and children below the age of ten and elderly above 65 would not be allowed as already announced by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

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Among the major places of worship, the famous Lord Krishna temple at Guruvayur will reopen on Tuesday for devotees, but the ancient Sree Padmanabha Swamy shrine here reversed its initial decision and postponed public darshan to June 30.

Several other temples, including those under the Nair Service Society (NSS) and the Sivagiri Mutt, have also decided to remain closed for devotees till the month end.

While various mosques have decided not to reopen till June 30, a section of churches will allow the faithful from Tuesday.

The hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala would allow devotees when it opens on June 14 for the monthly pooja.

Barring the annual festive season from November-January when it remains open for the entire period drawing lakhs of devotees, the temple functions for five days from the beginning of every Malayalam month.

Devotees would be allowed into the Guruvayur templeonly after they book for darshan through virtual queue system, temple sources said. The shrine will open at around 9.30 am for darshan and personnel of Fireforce and Devaswom department disinfected and cleaned it up on Monday, they said.

The Padmanabha Swamy temple here had earlier said it wouldalso open itsdoors for devotees, but the decision was changedafter an administrative committee meeting in thenoon, sources in the shrine said. It has now been decided to allow devotees into the shrine only after June 30 due to the COVID-19 situation, they said.

As the temples are set to allow devotees for the first time since the national lockdown was clamped to fight coronavirus on March 25, the Hindu Aikya Vedi and the BJP came out against the decision, alleging that it was aimed at bringing in more revenue to the government's coffers.

Instead of opening the temples in 'haste', the state government should provide financial help to the shrines and its employees in view of the pandemic, BJP state president K Surendran said. Thousands of temples have lost their revenue due to the lockdown, he said. Reacting to the allegation, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the state government decided to open the shrines as per the Centre's guidelines. "Not only of the temples, we welcome the decision of other places of worship not to open. The decision was taken by them as they understood the situation. Kerala decided to open religious places as per the Centre's direction," he said.

Those who were now against opening the temples had earlier clamoured for allowing devotees. "The Hindu Aikya Vedi has backed off from their earlier stand," he said. The NSS, an organisation of the Nair community, said 1,000 odd temples under its administration would remain shut till the month end. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers 1,248 shrines, including the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, would open them adhering to the government's guidelines, President, N Vasu said.

Dismissing the allegation about revenue being the motive behind reopening temples, he said the decision was taken keeping in mind the needs of the devotees. The Vadukkunathan temple in Thrissur, dedicated to Lord Shiva,one of the oldest shrines in southern states, was disinfected by Fire force personnel on Monday morning on the eve of its opening. The shrine is the venue of the famous Thrissur Pooram festival, known for the parade of richly caparisoned jumbos, but the festival this year was cancelled and only inevitable rituals were allowed due to the COVID-19 situation. In Kochi, cleaning was held at the Shiva temple in the heart of the city and the Chottanikara Bhagavathy amman shrine. Churches under the Ernakulam Angamally and Chengnacherry Archdioceses have decided not to open, while those under the Jacobite faction would allow services from Tuesday. The Latin Church head Archbishop Soosa Pakiam has left it to the parishoners to decide whether they want to visit the churches which can open from June 9.

The faithful would be allowed inside the place of worship afterthermal scanning, a priest said. Various mosques in Thrissur, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram districts have decided to remain shut till the month end.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)