Pandemic shows signs of easing, devotees throng Golden Temple

To enforce social distancing, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had to make extra arrangements. Tents were set up outside the ‘Darshani Deori’ to ensure devotees queued up with the mandated distance between each other.

Amritsar With the Covid-19 pandemic showing signs of easing, devotees made a beeline to pay obeisance at the supreme Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple, on Sunday. The searing June heat was no deterrent, with the huge footfall forcing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to make arrangements to ensure no devotee was inconvenienced.

After a long time, the entire parkarma (circumambulation marble path around the holy water tank called as ‘sarovar’) of the Golden Temple was full of devotees. (HT Photo)

“Based on the consumption of langar (free food) during the second wave of the lockdown, footfall of devotees had always been less than 50,000 a day. Over the past ten days, however, there has been a gradual increase in footfall. On Sunday, the number was around 80,000, again, based on langar consumption,” said Satnam Singh, manager, Golden Temple langar hall, the largest community kitchen in the world.

He added that the situation was not normal yet, as devotees from overseas and other states could not come due to travel restrictions. “Before the pandemic, 1 lakh devotees visited the Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) on a week day and 1.5 lakh on weekends and special days,” he said.

After a long time, the entire parkarma (circumambulation marble path around the holy water tank called as ‘sarovar’) of the Golden Temple was full of devotees. To enforce social distancing, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had to make extra arrangements. Tents were set up outside the ‘Darshani Deori’ to ensure devotees queued up with the mandated distance between each other.

Devotees jam-packed the area between the Akal Takht and the Darshani Deori with the queue extending up to the parkarma. At the Dukh Bhanjani Beri, a historic tree on the bank of the sarovar (It is believed that if anyone takes bath under this tree, he or she is freed of all sorrows), the devotees had to wait for their turn to have a dip. A queue of women had built up outside their designated changing room.

Before covid-19 struck, the average collection of offerings at the Golden Temple was ₹23 lakh a day. Due to the first phase of the lockdown, the collection dipped to between ₹10,000 and ₹15,000 a day. In the present second wave, however, the number should improve as footfall did not see as drastic a dip as in the previous wave.