Acting against superstition related to coronavirus, police demolished a much-touted ‘Corona Mai’ temple at Juhi Shukulpur village on Dewanganj road of Pratapgarh on Friday night.
As per reports, personnel from Sangipur police station reached the village late on Friday night and after demolishing the newly set up ‘Corona Mai’ temple, took away the remains in a tractor trolley. Nagesh Kumar Srivastava, the elder brother of Lokesh Srivastava, who installed the idol in the temple, was taken into custody. Now Srivastava family members are accusing the police of bullying them.
After the installation of the 'Corona Mai' temple went viral on the internet, crowds started making beelines to offer prayers and the number of followers increased by each passing day. On June 7, Deepmala Srivastava of Juhi Shukulpur village established the temple under a neem tree. The image of Corona Devi was realised in the form of a statue in the temple premises. Locals started performing aarti in the morning and evening. According to the villagers, three people had died due to coronavirus infection in the village and numerous tested Corona positive. However all of them survived after the treatment. Media too published the news after which the authorities took cognisance and decided to allay the superstitions.
This is not the first temple dedicated to 'Corona Mata' to have been set up in the country. Earlier, similar temples came up in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore and Karnataka's Madhuvanahalli village.