The Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, which remained shut since 21 March has opened its doors for devotees from today (26 August).

The timings for darshan and other strict measures that will be put in place at the temple premises were announced by the administration.

Those who seek to have a glimpse of the deity will have to book online and carry a copy of the Darshan token and their original Aadhaar card.

The Darshan token can be availed from the site spst.in where the icon for Darshan token leads to a registration form.

One is required to answer six questions regarding the prevalence of Covid in one's locality, symptoms of cold, fever and the like, travel history to Covid-affected local as well international locations, and contact with fever, Covid-affected patients or with people having a history of travel to Covid- affected places.

The temple is also opening its doors for the first time after the landmark judgement by the Supreme Court upholding the rights of the Travancore royal family to continue as the shebaits of the temple and manage its administration.

The temple will be open for darshan from 8am to 11am and 5pm to around 6.45pm when the Deeparadhana takes place, as reported.

Also, in a bid to avoid crowding and to restrict the number of people, the temple has limited the total number of visitors to 665 per day, with only 35 devotees allowed inside the temple at any particular time.

While the home ministry had permitted the opening of places of religious worship from 30 June, many temples in South India which see large crowds had remained shut.