Tiruvannamalai

Police and temple officials at Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai started enforcing the restriction of allowing only those devotees who come with the double dose vaccination certificate into the premises from Monday. The officials at the entrance checked the vaccination certificate of every devotee before allowing them inside.

With all places of worship being closed for the last three days, officials said they expected huge crowd at the Tiruvannamalai Temple from Monday.

Collector B Murugesh told DT Next that the double dose certificate check move was aimed at reducing the crowd inside the temple in the wake of the surge in infection in recent weeks and also because of the fact that many from the district, who visited pilgrim centres elsewhere, were found to be infected with COVID-19.

Murugesh said that those “in need of a vaccine dose would be provided with as a permanent vaccination camp had been established near the Tiruvannamalai temple’s main entrance.”

Asked if priests attached to the temple were vaccinated, he said “all priests working in the temple have received two doses of the vaccine.”

The administration has also banned girivalam of Annamalai hills.

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