The district administration has suspended the annual fair of Mailaralingeshwar temple scheduled between January 13 and 18 at Mailapur village in Yadgir district in view of the COVID-19 situation.
The annual fair attracts several lakh devotees from across the State and also from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra every year. “It would have attracted the same large number of devotees this year too if the fair had not been suspended,” a resident of Mailapur village said.
Yadgir district has seen more than 10,000 COVID-19 positive cases and over 60 deaths. Considering this and to prevent further spread of the virus, the district administration suspended this year’s fair and imposed preventive orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code preventing devotees from coming to the temple.
Tahsildar of Yadgir Channamallappa Ghanti said that the preventive orders will be in force from Wednesday to Sunday. Thus, devotees should adhere to the orders or legal action will be taken against violators.
The temple usually attracts large number of devotees every year during Sankranti. Earlier, devotees offered pujas and hurled sheep on Mailaralingeshwar during the chariot procession. But, this practice was stopped a few years ago by the district administration which asked devotees to hand over sheep to the officials of the Animal Husbandry and Revenue departments at the check-posts set up at the entrance of the village, instead of hurling them on the deity.
Barricades
The police have put up barricades on routes leading to the temple, while the district administration has distributed pamphlets and taken other initiatives to inform devotees about the suspension of the fair.
The Tahsildar of Yadgir, who is the administrator of the temple, has opened an account with a private bank enabling devotees to transfer funds to be offered to the temple hundi.
Meanwhile, archaks are allowed to perform formal pujas on Sankranti. Talking to The Hindu, Deputy Commissioner R. Ragapriya urged the devotees to cooperate with the district administration by not coming to the fair.
