Barring Kamakhya Devalaya, all other devalayas and temples in Guwahati are set to reopen for devotees from June 8 in sync with the Unlock-I guidelines announced by the government.

According to the rules issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, all religious places can reopen from June 8 subject to the gathering of a maximum of 20 people per hour. In the case of spiritual places with smaller available paces, the management committees of such religious institutions can downsize the number of devotees per hour.

The authority of Kamakhya Devalaya said that they might keep the temple door closed till June 30. The Devalaya has already shelved the holding of Ambubachi Mela slated from June 22-26 this year.

Sadou Asom Devalaya Sangha (SADS) secretary-general Kailash Sarma thanked the government for creating a way for the reopening of spiritual places. "We did make an appeal to the govt for such an appointment earlier. We thank the State administration for taking such a measure. I'm a member Ugratara Temple's Bordeuri-cum-Monitoring Committee. We're set to open Ugratara Temple. We have a couple of guidelines of our own, besides those issued by the govt. The govt has allowed 20 devotees per hour, but we're getting to allow less than 20 devotees per hour.

"There are other changes also. There will be arrangement for maintaining one-metre distance. Now the pujari (priest) won't give flowers to the devotees by hand. He'll only extend the dish containing flowers and therefore the devotees will need to pick flowers themselves. This apart, the priests won't give the tilak (a mark worn by the Hindus of their forehead). He'll need to use a little stick to get the work done. The bhog or anna prasad (offered meal) that was for 200 earlier will now be just for 30 people, " Sarma was quoted as saying.

The Doul Govinda Mandir in North Guwahati also features a special arrangement for reopening the temple for devotees. Chief finance secretary of the Doul-Govinda Mandir Parichalana Samiti, Achyut Kumar Das, said, "After registration at the gate thermal scanning of the devotees and sanitizing are a requirement, as is that the wearing of a mask. At a time only three devotees are going to be allowed to enter the temple. There are separate entrance and exit within the temple. We're not getting to give flowers, nirmali (flowers offered to God or Goddess), padajal (water used for laundry the feet of deities) and tilak to any devotee."