KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Hindus in the country celebrated Thaipusam today on a moderate scale in adherence to the strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) set to curb the spread of COVID-19.
At the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple in Batu Caves near here, which is the focus of Hindus from all over the country for the Thaipusam celebration every year, the excitement can still be felt this year despite being conducted with strict SOPs.
In addition to ‘kavadi’ ceremony not being allowed by the temple management, the number of devotees entering the temple grounds is limited to 9,000 people, while for the 18 sessions of prayer ceremonies, only 500 people are allowed to participate per session.
Also present at the temple today were Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique to review the situation of the year’s celebration.
In SELANGOR, the Subramaniar Swamy Temple in Batu Tiga, Shah Alam, has become one of the focus of Hindus from the surrounding areas to conduct prayer ceremonies.
Volunteer at the temple, R. Ravindran, 25, said people started visiting the house of worship as early as 7 am and all were in adherence to the SOPs set to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“However, we (volunteers) will still remind them to always abide by the SOPs while present in the temple, including only gathering with family members during prayers and shortening the period of their stay in the temple. This is to give way for others to enter for prayers and maintain physical distancing,” he said when met by Bernama.
In PENANG, Hindus started to throng the courtyard of the Thanneermalai Shree Balathandayuthapani Devasthanam Temple (Hilltop Temple) as early as 3 am even though the door was only opened at 5 am to comply with the SOPs set.
Temple chairman, Datuk R. Subramaniam said the early attendance was controlled by the police who had set up checkpoints at the temple to ensure peace and SOPs compliance during the Thaipusam celebrations and limit the number of devotees in the temple.
“After going through the checkpoint, every devotee who enters the temple door is required to scan the MySejahtera application and check his body temperature. They then have to queue up to 150 individuals (in the group) before they can start to climb 513 steps to reach the top of the temple,” he said.
