Many states are enforcing lockdowns as the second wave of corona virus infection spreads across the country. A full lockdown will be imposed in Tamil Nadu from May 10 to 24. Even before that, devotees were banned from entering places of worship.
Devotees have been banned from worshipping at temples and places of worship and permission of festivals have been denied. But it has been reported that regular pujas, including rituals, will continue without devotees. In this situation, donations are being made regularly at the famous Chennimalai Murugan Temple located in Erode district.
As the devotees are not allowed to enter, the food cooked for annadhanam using the donations made are being packed in sacks and taken in packets to the foothills and distributed by the temple staff to the needy and the poor who are suffering without any source of income. Thus, at least 100 people benefit daily.
The Chennimalai temple is one of the temples under the control of the HR&CE Department. It is common for people of Christian and Islamic religions to pretend to be doing community service. Hindu temples are state-run and feed tens of thousands of people every day without much ado.
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