Permission for 10,000 devotees a day at Guruvayur temple
The Hindu
Darshan allowed only for those making online booking
With the relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the Guruvayur Devaswom Management committee has decided to allow 10,000 devotees a day at the Sreekrishna Temple, Guruvayur.
The decision to permit dharshan for 10,000 through a virtual queue was taken following requests from devotees during the Mandala Puja period. However, darshan is allowed for those making an online booking. Devotees are required to register on the Devaswom’s website.
Hampi, the UNESCO-recognised historical site, was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire from 1336 to 1565. Foreign travellers from Persia, Europe and other parts of the world have chronicled the wealth of the place and the unique cultural mores of this kingdom built on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. There are fine descriptions to be found of its temples, farms, markets and trading links, remnants of which one can see in the ruins now. The Literature, architecture of this era continue inspire awe.
Unfurling the zine handed to us at the start of the walk, we use brightly-coloured markers to draw squiggly cables across the page, starting from a sepia-toned vintage photograph of the telegraph office. Iz, who goes by the pronouns they/them, explains, “This building is still standing, though it shut down in 2013,” they say, pointing out that telegraphy, which started in Bengaluru in 1854, was an instrument of colonial power and control. “The British colonised lands via telegraph cables, something known as the All Red Line.”