The Dakshineswar Kali temple will remain shut to visitors on January 1, the authorities have decided in the face of a fresh surge in Covid cases.
Located off Baranagar, the Kali temple in Dakshineswar usually draws thousands of devotees on the first day of the year.
“We had to arrive at this decision as a precautionary measure in the wake of the rising number of Covid cases,” said Kushal Chowdhury, the secretary of the Kali Temple and Debottar Trust.
“The turnout on Christmas was alarmingly high and we felt it would not be proper to attract such a huge congregation at one place on January 1 when thousands usually turn up at the temple.”
Officials of the temple committee said even though the temple will remain shut to visitors, usual puja and other rituals would be carried out. The temple was shut to visitors on January 1 this year, too.
A similar decision was taken by the authorities of the Belur Math to keep the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission shut for visitors on January 1.
The authorities have decided that Belur Math will remain closed to visitors and devotees from January 1 to January 4 and reopen on January 5. Senior monks said around this time of the year, the footfall at the Math goes up by several times resulting in overcrowding.
Besides Belur Math, the Ramakrishna Math at Cossipore (Udyanbati) will remain closed to devotees from January 1 to 3 for Kalpataru Utsav because of the Covid.
Every year on January 1, lakhs of devotees queue up outside the Math to offer their pranam to Sri Ramakrishna in the room where he had breathed his last.
“In compliance with the corona epidemic prevention rules, devotees, visitors and well-wishers are requested not to physically attend the programmes of the Kalpataru Utsav in 2022,” said Swami Divyananda, adhyaksha of the Math.