Contactless bell installed in Chhattisgarh temple to avoid physical contact

A Contactless sensor bell has been installed at Vindhyavashini Temple in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district. Temple administration says, "It works on proximity sensor (able to detect the presence of nearby objects without physical contact)".

Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh): In order to take precautions to contain the spread of coronavirus but also keeping the desires of devotees to follow the ritual process, a temple in Chhattisgarh has installed a contact-less bell at Vindhyavashini Temple in Dhamtari district, which works with the help of sensors.

Vindhyavashini Temple has installed a bell with a sensor, which can ring without the need for physically touching it.

Notably, in Hindu temples, bells are usually hung in the area or porch preceding the inner sanctum, and devotees ring them as an invocation to the deity.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Yogesh Sharma, temple's priest said, "This contactless bell has been installed to avoid physical contact and thereby curb the spread of COVID-19. It is important to ring the bell when we pray. Devotees must ring the bell to reach God. The bell starts ringing as soon as a devotee comes under it or folds his hands beneath it to pay respect to the deity."

A devotee Rameshwar Makram said, "It is very helpful during the pandemic. This type of sensor made it easy for us to ring the bell without touching it. It is very useful during the pandemic. Ever since temples reopened after lockdown, some of the regular rituals which devotees perform including the ringing of the bell, offering prasad in temples are being avoided. The bell works on proximity sensor and able to detect the presence of nearby objects without physical contact."

Reportedly, religious places reopened on June 8 in the country after the lockdown was relaxed, however, the process of offering prayers by the devotees have to be done following social distancing norms to contain the spread of the virus.