Devotees throng Krishna Temple of Nepal amid rising cases of COVID-19

Scores of devotees thronged the Krishna Temple of Nepal's Patan Durbar Square even as the Himalayan nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite announcements by the local authorities and repeated warnings from Police, hundreds of devotees still continued to flout the safety rules.

Krishna Temples across Nepal was flocked with devotees as the nation celebrated Krishna Ashtami. Krishna, the dark-skinned God revered as a manifestation of Lord Vishnu. According to Hindu mythology, Krishna was born at midnight on the eighth day of the dark moon of August which is known as Ashtami.

"Love is greatest amongst all and it is a thing that (Lord) Krishna has been able to cast the spell on everyone and brought me here," Sarita Giri, one of the devotees who flocked the temple told ANI.

Apart from the rush at UNESCO World Heritage Site on Krishna Janmashtami, a number of parents brought their children dressed as Krishna to temple premises. The little 'Krishnas' became centre of attraction but increased the risk of infection.

"There's a saying that 'every child is a God' as today its Krishna Janmashtami, I brought my child dressed as Krishna as a gesture of continuation of tradition and our culture," Smriti Shilpakar, a devotee who brought her child dressed as Krishna told ANI.

"We at first were afraid of COVID infection but as we live near the Krishna Temple we brought him here to an open space on the edge of the Durbar Square to let him play with pigeons and we haven't gone to the side where the serpentine line of devotees is," she added.

Krishna Janmashtami, a festival commemorating the birth of Krishna, considered the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu draws thousands of devotees from Kathmandu valley to one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites which once used to house kings before the unification of Nepal.

"The footfall of devotees has plummeted this year. Yet managing the crowd has become a painstaking task, the risk of getting infected from devotees and transfer amongst devotees stand high," Bibek Krishna Shrestha, a volunteer deployed in the area told ANI.

( With inputs from ANI )