Over 800 central monuments across the States that double up as places of worship will be opened to the public starting Monday, after being closed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
Union Culture Minister Prahald Singh Patel tweeted that the Ministry, under which the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) functions, had decided to open certain monuments and that safety procedures announced by the Union Health and Family Welfare and Home ministries would apply.
He said all coronavirus-related protocols on temples and places of worships issued by the Union Health Ministry will be followed by the monument authorities. Wearing masks, social distancing and online booking might be made the norm at such sites for visitors.
In directions to the ASI, the Ministry wrote that the Centrally-protected monuments "under worship" would be opened to the public. The government had decided last week to open all places of worship from Monday. The remaining monuments of the ASI’s total 3,691 protected sites, including the Taj Mahal in Agra, will remain closed to visitors for now.
According to a list of 821 monuments released by the Ministry, 114 were in the North region, 155 in Central, 170 in West, 279 in South and 103 in East.
While the Taj Mahal will remain shut, the Fatehpuri Masjid on the south-west corner of its entrance, the mosque inside its premises and the Kali masjid near it will be opened. In Delhi, Friday prayers would be allowed in the Qutub archaeological area and at Afsah-wala-ki Masjid outside the west gate of Humayun’s Tomb, the list said.
The Shankaracharya temple in Srinagar, the gurdwara in Bhatinda Fort in Punjab, the Buddhist monastery in Lamayuru, Leh and St. Mary’s Church in Fort St. George in Chennai would also be opened. The 3,691 Centrally-protected monuments and archaeological sites maintained by the ASI were shut from March 17 in view of the Covid-19 crisis.