Sea of devotees gather at Arattu festival in Kerala amidst coronavirus fears; flouts govt guidelines

A traditional procession 'Arattu' was organised at Malayinkeezhu Sree Krishna Swami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday flouting government guidelines which bars gathering of more than 50 people for a religious ceremony or a festival in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Devaswom Minister Kadakampally said that strict punishment will be meted out to the temple authorities for allowing the potential health risk to happen.

The police have launched n investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, the state government on Friday decided to ban the entry of pilgrims to the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district for the annual festival beginning on March 29.

So far, there are 40 positive cases in Kerala, out of which 33 are Indian nationals, 7 are foreign nationals. Three have fully recovered from the virus.