Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya Temples barred all kinds of sevas and utsavas. On weekends barred entry of devotees

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district administration has barred entry of devotees on Saturdays and Sundays to temples in Kukke Subramanya, Dharmasthala and Kateel till Aug. 15 to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the district.

On Saturdays and Sundays, temple authorities are allowed to conduct routine rituals with the help of priests, but entry of devotees is barred. The administration has also barred all kinds of sevas, utsavas, distribution of theertha and prasadam as well as mass feeding.

The temples will remain open between 7 am and 7 pm on weekdays and devotees can only have darshan of the deities, according to an order issued by Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra under Section 144 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Section 34 of the Disaster Management Act.

Hotels and lodges in these places are prohibited from offering accommodation on weekends. On weekdays, those intending to avail lodging facilities should compulsorily produce RT-PCR negative certificate not older than 72 hours, Dr. Rajendra said.