TN's Big temple among monuments to remain shut till May 15

Chennai, April 16 (IANS) Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur Big temple, Brihadeeswarar temple and Kailasanathar temple, along with other living monuments, will remain shut till May 15 amid surge in Covid-19 cases, sources in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said.However, at temples, devotees will not be allowed in but poojas will continue.Besides, the Mamallapuram monuments and the Fort Museum in the state capital will also be closed from Friday till May 15. It may be noted that Tamil Nadu has 411 ASI monuments maintained by the Chennai and Trichy circle of the department and 80 among these are living monuments.ASI sources said that all ticketed and non ticketed monuments will be closed from Friday. The collection from the ticketed monuments at Mamallapuram has dropped drastically since the second Covid wave has hit the state.The World heritage site in Chennai receive hardly 1,000 visitors on Saturdays' and Sundays' while over 7,000 on holidays.ASI-run monuments were closed in March last year following the Covid surge and some were opened for public in September and others in December 2020.
--IANS aal/sdr/