The spread of COVID-19 could not be cited as a reason to impose unreasonable restrictions in religious matters, the Madras High Court said on Sunday and set aside the Cuddalore district administration’s decision not to permit “outsiders” to participate in the Chidambaram Nataraja temple’s ongoing ‘Margazhi Arudra Darshan festival.
Justices R. Mahadevan and Anita Sumanth held a special sitting through video-conference and directed the district administration to permit devotees, irrespective of the place they belong to, to participate in the festival, subject to the ceiling and timing fixed by the authorities. It was also ordered to subject all devotees to thermal screening.
Making it clear that only those with high temperature should be prevented from entering the temple and subjected to COVID-19 tests at their own cost, the judges said those who are found negative in the rapid test could be allowed to get into the temple. All devotees must wear masks, maintain physical distance and follow other standard operating procedures. The entry of devotees during ‘‘Arudra Abhishekam’ and darshan, with 200 devotees in every hourly batch, would be on the principle of first come, first served basis, and the same principle should be followed for the car procession too. In so far as the results of rapid tests were concerned, the decision of the health officers/medical attenders would be final, they said.
