Ganjam shuts all religious places till Feb

Berhampur: The Ganjam administration has closed all religious places across the district from Sunday till February 1 in view of rising Covid-19 cases.
The administration, however, allowed regular rituals in the temples, churches and mosques with a limited number of priests and staff adhering to Covid protocols.
“In a preventive measure to curb Covid-19 infections in the district due to gatherings in religious places, we have imposed restriction on the visit of devotees from 5 am on Sunday to 5 am on February 1 in all the religious places,” said collector Vijay Amruta Kulange.
All the major religious places, including the major Shakti shrines like Maa Tara Tarini, Maa Budhi Thakurani and Sidha Bhairabi will remain closed for devotees, he said. The decision was taken after discussion with the stakeholders and observing the present trend of infections, the collector said.
The Tara Tarini temple, located near Purushottampur, was opened to the devotees on December 13 last year after being closed for about nine months.