Basar temple reopens fully after five months

Devotees, mandatorily wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing, are now allowed to perform various prayers and rituals including Aksharabhyasam, the initiation of alphabets .

Nirmal: The famed Sri Gnana Saraswathi Devasthanam had a full-fledged reopening on Sunday after a gap of over five months following the Covid-19 threat. The temple was shut down on March 20 due to the pandemic.

Executive Officer Vinod Reddy said the historic abode of the Goddess of Learning was opened for darshan and various religious services following instructions from the government.

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Devotees, mandatorily wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing, are now allowed to perform various prayers and rituals including Aksharabhyasam, the initiation of alphabets .

Other services such as Arjitha Seva, Abhisekam and Harati are being performed as usual from Saturday onwards.

Covid-19 did not affect income

The temple was partially opened by with truncated timings of darshan on June 7. Despite the closure of the temple for over three months, it registered an income of Rs 51.56 lakh from March 20 to July 7. It had earned revenue of Rs 52.55 lakh through offerings by devotees for December 15 last to February 3.

It is the only temple of goddess Saraswathi in South India. Devotees from several parts of Telangana State, Andhra Pradesh and many other states throng the shrine. It is believed that sage Vyas had worshipped Goddess Saraswathi during the times of Mahabharatha when he is believed to have stayed on the banks of Godavari.

Meanwhile, the ancient temple Sri Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam at Gudem village in Dandepalli mandal of Mancherial district, Sri Laxminarasimha Swamy temple in Jainath mandal centre of Adilabad district were also resumed. The other temples were also opened enabling devotees to perform prayers and to take darshan of the presiding deities.

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