Andhra govt issues guidelines for Vinayaka Chavithi urging people to celebrate at home

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], Aug 20 : The Andhra Pradesh Government on Thursday issued guidelines for the celebration of Vinayaka Chavithi (Ganesh Chaturthi) on August 22.
As per the order, the government urged devotees to perform the pooja in their homes instead of public places.
"When people visit shops/market places for procuring certain things for celebrations in all such places public are advised to strictly adhere to social distancing norms and always wear a face mask," the order read.
The order further stated that temples for worship would be allowed to remain open keeping in mind the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in place to control the spread of COVID-19 such as maintaining social distancing and wearing of masks at temples.
"The state government had earlier permitted the opening of all temples (Endowments and Private) for worship. Wherever the temples are open, worship in such places be permitted as per the SOP issued by the Government, duly following social distancing norms, etc," it added.
This order also indicates that public pandals may not be allowed. A few days ago, state BJP had appealed to the government to allow the public performance of Ganesh Chaturthi, like it had allowed Ramzan.