CONFIRMING reports of measures against Covid-19 being flouted at temples, the Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) today called on devotees and houses of worship’s committees to strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures.

President R.S. Mohan Shan told The Malaysian Insight that big gatherings must be avoided to prevent coronavirus clusters from emerging.

He said MHS has received complaints about temple committees and devotees breaching health and safety SOPs, as well as the authorities’ lack of action.

“While most temples adhere to the SOPs, some still don’t, and we’ve been receiving complaints from the public.

“We want all temples to follow the SOPs set by the government. We don’t want clusters arising from Hindu temples.”

MHS is visiting temples to ensure compliance with the rules, he said, adding that it is every individual’s responsibility to take precautions against the virus.

The group has laid out SOPs for the annual Vinayagar Chaturthi celebrations, to commemorate the birth of the deity Ganesha, on Saturday. Among the rules is that celebrations must be conducted on a small scale.

“We’ve told temples to control the crowd size and advise devotees not to gather in large numbers,” said Mohan.

“If a temple doesn’t have the resources to control the crowd, it should hire Rela members. Also, devotees should only go to the temple when it’s not crowded.”

He reminded temple committees that chariot processions are not allowed under the recovery movement-control order, which ends on August 31.

Temples and other houses of worship were given the green light to reopen from June 10 with SOPs in place.

Mohan urged Hindus to hold “pooja” (special prayers) at home as Covid-19 remains a threat.

“In these times, safety is very important.

“There’s nothing wrong if one can’t go to the temple on auspicious days. They can do ‛pooja’ at home.” – August 20, 2020.