On June 11, the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh reopened after lockdown. Naturally, devotees flocked to the revered shrine. In July alone...
On June 11, the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh reopened after lockdown. Naturally, devotees flocked to the revered shrine. In July alone, 2.38 lakh pilgrims visited the temple. Despite the precautions taken by the authorities, the temple became a Covid-19 hotspot.
In a little over two months, as many as 743 shrine employees, including priests, have tested positive for coronavirus. Three have died of the disease. It is unknown how many visitors have contracted Covid-19.
Curiously, even as Covid-19 cases keep on shooting up, the temple remains open. After the death of a former head priest on July 17, an advisor of the trust and others urged the temple’s authorities to shut for some time. However, the temple continued to allow devotees in. Critics blamed the temple for risking lives so it could keep earning revenue.
Double standards
It is difficult to avoid comparing Tirupati to another religious site that emerged as a hotspot early on in the pandemic: the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Delhi.
At the end of March, much of the media ran a vicious campaign against the Jamaat, blaming it for spreading the disease intentionally. This, even though the public threat perception against Covid-19 was so low at the time of the congregation earlier that month that India’s highest democratic body, Parliament, was itself...
