Places of worship reopen in Telangana

Hyderabad: After Telangana government lifted lockdown in the state, worshippers in huge numbers were seen at different religious places i.e., mosques, temples, churches and gurudwaras on Sunday morning.

Last year when the lockdown was imposed for the first time, a limited number of people were allowed to worship at the religious places. But due to the severity of the second COVID-19 wave, the government had issued directions to totally close the worship places.

Muslim organisations were requesting the state government to reopen the mosques with a limited number of worshippers. Government controlled Makkah Masjid in Charminar and Shahi Masjid in Public Gardens were locked by the government in order to control the spread of COVID-19.

Later with the relaxation hours extended till 6 pm, the public and the traders besides Makkah Masjid were still not allowed to offer their respective prayers. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Makkah Masjid, Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui has appealed to the worshippers to follow the COVID-19 rules i.e wearing masks, hand sanitization and maintaining social distancing. He added that prayer mats have been removed and requested the worshippers to bring their own mats and to do ablution at their home.