KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 10
Pashupatinath temple will reopen for devotees tomorrow by adhering to health protocols put in place by the government.
The local administration had placed a ban on worship, meditation or prayer in temples, monasteries, mosques, and churches on January 19 due to the growing risk of the new variant of COVID-19 (omicron).
According to Pashupati Area Development Trust, only 50 devotees will be allowed in the core area of the temple at a time.
Along with Pashupatinath temple, other shrines such as Guheshwari will also reopen tomorrow, informed the PADT. All other religious services, including special puja, hymn singing and other rituals had closed as per the decision of the local administration to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.
Pashupatinath temple was also closed to devotees towards the last of March 2020, when the first wave of COV- ID-19 hit the country. The temple was reopened after nine months and devotees as well as temple authorities were made to adhere to health safety protocols against the deadly infection.
Of late, the omicron variant of COVID-19 had become pervasive leading PADT to close the temple to devotees indefinitely.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 11, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
