Few devotees offer prayers at Haridwar temples, ghats

Opening of temples and Ganga ghats here after a gap of nearly 75 days evoked a dull response from devotees with few turning up due to the coronavirus scare.        

All the temples, mutts and ghats here had been closed for devotees on March 22 to prevent crowding. They were reopened on Monday after a prolonged hiatus following the Centre's guidelines, but few people showed up to pay obeisance or take a holy bath in the river.   

Ganga Sabha president Pradeep Jha attributed the negligible presence of devotees at the temples and ghats to the fear of the dreaded disease.  

Devotees who visited the temples were made to wear masks and maintain social distancing while paying obeisance at the temples, he said.  

To ensure social distancing, not more than two people were allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temples at one time, he said.   

Temple precincts at Daksheshwar Mahadev Mandir, Maya Devi Mandir, Sheetla Mata Mandir, Tara Devi Mandir and historic gurudwara at Kankhal of third Sikh Guru Amar Das were cleaned and sanitised before their doors were thrown open to devotees.