Corona scare: No prasad, evening prayer for devotees at Belur Math

Kolkata: The age-old tradition of offering prasad to the devotees at Belur Math will be suspended till April 14, as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID 19 (nCoV), Swami Suviranandaji, general secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Mission said on Sunday.

Every day, hundreds of devotees from different parts of the country and abroad come to the Math to have prasad in the afternoon. This is for the first time since the inception of Ramakrishna Mission on May 1, 1897 that such a measure has been taken.

No devotee will be allowed to sit at the Ramakrishna temple to attend the morning and evening prayers. The RKM authorities will allow them to sit in front of three giant screens to watch the evening prayer instead.

The authorities will decide later when this facility will be allowed again. More than 400 devotees across the world come to attend the morning and evening prayer along with the monks and bramhacharins of the Order.

Many devotees come from far-off places to have prasad and witness the evening prayer. The footfall of foreigners during the evening prayer is remarkable.

The devotees will also not be allowed to offer pranam to the President Maharaj Swami Smaranandaji till further order. The initiation ceremony, which takes place at the Math premises, will also remain suspended. The devotees wait for several months and even years to get initiated.

The guest house at the Math will remain closed for an indefinite period. Swami Suviranandaji said the steps have been taken as precautionary measures and felt that the devotees should understand the gravity of the situation. The RKM authorities will review the situation from time to time and inform the devotees about further decisions.

Two foreigners at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON), Mayapur, who had been suffering from fever, were tested negative for novel Coronavirus (nCoV).