{"id":7211,"date":"2020-07-18T18:21:32","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T18:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=7211"},"modified":"2020-07-18T18:21:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T18:21:32","slug":"covid-19-lockdown-bengals-religious-institutions-reopen-but-devotees-reluctant-to-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=7211","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 lockdown: Bengal\u2019s religious institutions reopen, but devotees reluctant to return"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Written by \t\t\t\t\tNeha Banka<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t | Kolkata |
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUpdated: June 5, 2020 11:27:27 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\"\"

The coronavirus<\/a> outbreak in India has led to a rethinking of how people practise their faith. For Christians and Muslims in Kolkata, the pandemic<\/a> and the subsequent national lockdown coincided with two major festivals, Easter and Eid, both of which were celebrated in ways that the communities have never done before. Although the West Bengal government allowed places of worship to reopen following advisories on June 1, many religious institutions have chosen not to open their doors due to concerns of possible Covid-19<\/a> infections.<\/p>\n

In April, when churches were forced to hold mass during the Easter week online due to the COVID-19 lockdown, for those accustomed to visiting the church to pray, it was particularly difficult. In two months, with the increase in coronavirus infections, those sentiments have changed for some. Josephine Gurung, 58, who would go to church whenever possible and felt strongly about her inability to do so during Holy Week, has chosen not to visit despite her local church having opened last week. \u201cI think churches shouldn\u2019t open. It is dangerous. I am missing church but mass is happening online and that is important to me,\u201d says Gurung.<\/p>\n

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Local markets began opening after the Indian government slowly began easing the lockdown, but many continue to step out in public spaces without face masks in violation of public health laws. \u201cPeople are not responsible. They keep crying, saying \u2018what will happen, what will happen\u2019, but I went to New Market recently and people were out and about without masks and gloves. I went to drop something off at a school and the teachers were in the room, gossiping with face masks hanging below their chins.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lockdown has allowed Gurung to spend more time with her family and practise her faith differently. \u201cPeople have become more religious at home. They have more time to pray because otherwise they are too busy,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Since the lockdown was initiated, the Archdiocese of Calcutta had started online prayer services, that many in the community availed of during the Holy Week and those services are continuing once a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation was new and changed. People have prayed and reflected in their own homes in a relaxed way. It was a providential time from that perspective,\u201d says Thomas D\u2019Souza, Archbishop of Calcutta, acknowledging that people\u2019s inability to visit church has impacted the way they pray.<\/p>\n

The Archbishop has ordered churches to follow government regulations that allow only ten people wearing face masks inside the institution\u2019s premises at any given time, and the regular sanitisation of surfaces. Now, Communion is now only given after the priest sanitises his hand.<\/p>\n

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Mosques in Kolkata are scheduled to open on June 8, as allowed by the West Bengal state government. For the community, the fasting month of Ramzan and Eid celebrations were unusual this year because the mosques were closed and did not allow people to congregate for prayers. While the imams joined by not more than five people have been holding the farz (mandatory) part of the five namaz inside the mosques every day, people were asked to pray at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIslam says that it is important to save lives. The lockdown does not mean that you do not pray, or do charity or read the namaz and observe Ramzan. You just do it at home,\u201d says Nasser Ebrahim, trustee of the Nakhoda Masjid, one of the largest and most important mosques in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings have changed and not for the better,\u201d says Moinul Mullick, 31, a Howrah-based businessman. \u201cIt is not that we have to go to the mosque everyday to pray, but Friday prayers are important. People are not feeling comfortable with the idea of going to the mosques.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullick says that for some people in the community, visiting a mosque for prayers, particularly on Friday, are important, but he believes that it is mostly older people in the community who feel strongly about it. For many people his age, Mullick says health concerns take precedence and he does not anticipate visiting mosques till concerns of COVID-19 infections persist.<\/p>\n

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Ebrahim, along with other members of the administration of Nakhoda Masjid, has been preparing to open the 94-year-old mosque to the public on June 8 by giving it a thorough cleaning. The imam still holds daily prayers inside the mosque and floors are cleaned after each round of prayers because they involve the congregants bowing, bringing their faces in close proximity to the floor. Sanitiser machines have also been deployed and will be in use on a daily basis and the useof face-masks have been made compulsory.<\/p>\n

Ebrahim knows that Id prayers at Nakhoda Masjid are important, but this year, there was little to be done. \u201cYes, it does hurt, but you have to adjust. Otherwise the illness will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the 165-year old Dakshineswar Kali Temple on the banks of the Hooghly river, the temple administration is still considering when to reopen the iconic temple\u2019s gates for devotees. \u201cThe state government had requested religious places to reopen on June 1, but temples are autonomous. Prior to opening the temple, preventive measures have to be put in place,\u201d says Kusal Chowdhury, trustee and secretary of the temple.<\/p>\n

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On any given day before the pandemic, some 30,000 devotees used to visit the temple and the temple administration is now concerned about managing the crowds while conforming to public health laws. Without ensuring that the required infrastructure is put in place for sanitisation and protection, the temple does not want to jeopardise the health of devotees as well as priests and support staff who work in the temple in various capacities. \u201cIn Hinduism, we believe that faith does not change but it becomes stronger when disaster strikes. We will overcome this because of our belief in the Goddess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thinking of implementing thermal checks, security checks and sanitisation and we will only allow ten people to enter at a time. Nobody will be allowed to enter the sanctum and people will be asked to leave the temple premises quickly. Gatherings in the temple complex will not be allowed and people will not be allowed to enter Ramakrishna\u2019s room. Facemasks will be mandatory,\u201d says Chowdhury.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of food stalls can be usually seen outside the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, but the temple authorities will only allow these establishments to offer takeaways. According to Chowdhury, the temple itself will open for only a few hours in the day. \u201cThis is a very temporary situation. The entire world has changed, everything will change, but spirituality will not change.\u201d The temple\u2019s plans are being implemented but the administration says it will need time to execute it the way they believe is necessary. \u201cIf any devotee falls ill, it will be our responsibility. It is not an easy job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The 211-year-old Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata is also in no hurry to open its gates. While a representative of the temple administration did not provide any clarity on when the temple would reopen, shopkeepers outside the temple told indianexpress.com<\/a> that the temple administration was still considering how best to manage crowds in accordance with prescribed public health laws when they were to reopen.<\/p>\n

Smaller neighbourhood temples in the city however, that do not attract large groups of people appear to have opened their doors in the fifth phase of India\u2019s nationwide lockdown.<\/p>\n

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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Neha Banka | Kolkata | Updated: June 5, 2020 11:27:27 pm The closed gates of Kali Temple in Kolkata. (Express Photo by Neha Banka) The coronavirus outbreak in India has led to a rethinking of how people practise their faith. For Christians and Muslims in Kolkata, the pandemic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kolkata"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/temple.jpgw759.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}