By Renuka Dhakal
Kathmandu, June 29: The COVID-19 pandemic has not spared religion, resulting in cancellation of prayer and worship services of various faiths, religious festivals and pilgrimages for over the last three months in Nepal.
All the religious shrines like monasteries, mosques, churches and temples have remained closed as soon as the government enforced the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“I don't understand what lockdown is and why it's in place,” said Sapta Laxmi, a septuagenarian woman from Chabahil. She is a passionate devotee who used to visit the temple every day until March 24 when the nationwide lockdown was enforced. “I always get up at 3:00am and after worshiping at home, I used to visit Pashupatinath temple every day since my teenage,” she said.
“Now, the temple is closed and I am unable to visit it which gives me lot of pain. I wish everything were normal as before and I could go to the temple every day to offer worship to the almighty,” added Sapta Laxmi.
The temple is a place of religious faith as well as the place to meet friends, share sorrows and joys but that has come to a complete halt because of such a pandemic which had never been seen before, said Bhagawati Gautam, 67.
She further said that going to the temple and listening to hymns was her regular routine as these activities calmed her heart and made it easier to pass the time. “But these days I feel restless when I have to stay indoors 24 hours a day.”
Nepal went into nationwide lockdown on March 24 and it was relaxed on June 15 but the religious shrines are not yet allowed to open to avoid mass gathering and maintain social distancing. The entrances of almost every temple are locked and no one is allowed to visit the temple except for the priests for regular offering to the deities.
Krishna Prasad Neupane, a 60-year-old priest (who performs religious rites), was a regular visitor to Pashupatinath temple and performed various poojas for others, but for the last three months he has not only lost the source of income but could not visit temple to pay homage to the gods.
“I have never experienced such a condition in my entire life, literally shutting down everything. It is strange; we don’t have any choice but wait desperately for the opening of the temple for public,” said Neupane.
Jagdish Shrestha, who has been running a glossary shop close to the Pashupatinath temple for 27 years, said he had never seen such a shutdown that the centre of faith of the Hindus, Pashupatinath temple, would get deserted like it is now.
There always used to be a crowd of devotees but now the Pashupatinath temple has turned into total emptiness, which in itself is an unprecedented shockwave for us, added Shrestha.
However, Saint Purushottam Giri Sandikacharya maintained that the temple was never closed since the god dwelt in our heart and advised everyone to read the Bhagwat Gita which has the answer to all the questions.
Especially, the elderly who used to go to the temple every day for worship, listened to hymns with a group of people and had conversations with each other are surprised when the temple suddenly closed down. And they are forced to worship only indoors, who now are praying from home for the coronavirus to come to an end soon.
There had been many natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides, but the temples had never been closed for so long, but this pandemic has suspended all religious activities entirely.
This pandemic has made an indelible mark in the world due to which even the advanced countries have come to their knees.
Maybe nowhere in recorded history has there been such an experience in which temples and other sites of religions were mandatorily shut for more than three months, added Neupane.
Restricting personal worship is perhaps one of the most significant obstacles to the practice of religion in history.
Likewise, many have postponed religious rituals and cancelled planned pilgrimages.