Covid-19: Iskcon temple in Vrindavan shut till March 31

Agra: Iskcon temple in Vrindavan has been closed for public for the next two weeks in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The temple has been shut down for the first time ever since its inception 45 years ago.

Confirming this on Wednesday, the temple’s public relations officer, Saurabh Das, said that all routine work related to deity prayers and ‘kirtan’ will continue inside the temple as 80 brahmacharis live inside the premises. He said the decision to close the temple for public was taken on Wednesday and as of now no visitors will be allowed till March 31.

Meanwhile, Mathura police has registered a case against two persons for allegedly providing accommodation to 20 foreigners from various countries without informing the local district office or police. According to police, two persons, Ram Prakash Tewari and Ramesh Chandra Agarwal, were booked under sections 7 and 14 of Foreigners Act 1946 for allegedly providing accommodation to the foreigners since March 15.

The foreigners were immediately screened by the health department and fortunately none of them was found to have symptoms of the disease so far, said circle officer Govardhan Jitendra Kumar. He added that they had been charged Rs 500 per day and there was no registration of the guest house.

Mathura SSP Dr Gaurav Grover appealed to hotels and ashrams operators in the city to immediately inform the police in such cases to prevent spread of coronavirus. He said strict action will be taken if anyone violates the move.