Amid nationwide lockdown to combat coronavirus, devotees in Karnataka on Tuesday were seen offering prayers to Lord Hanuman at a temple on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.
News agency ANI on Tuesday tweeted photos of people offering prayers to Lord Hanuman at a temple in Maratha Galli area of Hubli. ANI captioned the tweet: Karnataka: Devotees maintain social distancing while offering prayers to Lord Hanuman at a temple in Maratha Galli area of Hubli on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.
Soon after ANI tweeted the photos, netizens took to Twitter and expressed their views. While some hailed many netizens were annoyed with devotees for offering prayer on Hanuman Jayanti. One Twitter user said, Why can't these people pray at home?. Another user said, What part of sit at home are people not understanding?
Interestingly, on Tuesday the Karnataka government has granted permission for the celebrations of the annual Karaga festival with certain restrictions, reported ANI.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that not more than five people would participate in the event, which starts at the city's Sri Dharmarayana Swamy Temple, old Bengaluru. The event which is associated with the Thigala community attracts thousands of devotees every year. But due to the coronavirus spread, the Modi government has banned all the festivals and events across the state which involves public gathering.
As the country enters the third week of its 21-day lockdown, the total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus surged to 5,194 and the death toll touched 149 on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.