Amaravati, Jun 14 (IANS): With no sign of the Covid menace abating in a hurry, the Andhra Pradesh government is opening up to the possibility of less conventional approaches to containing the pandemic. The state Endowments Department has issued instructions for conducting yagyas and homams as per the ancient Upanishads and agamas in select temples on Tuesday.

Responding to the representation by TTD member K. Vaithyanathan, the state Endowments Department has cleared the proposal to conduct Arogya Bharata Yagna on the auspicious day of Bhoumashvani, which falls on Tuesday. The note issued in this regard by the Special Commissioner, Endowments, notes Vaidyanathan "has represented that performance of Arogya Bharata Yagna on Bhoumashvani day, ie, Tuesday with Ashwani star, on 16.06.2020, in various ancient temples, as per Vedic scripts, Upanishads, etc. will eradicate the pandemic and other diseases".

As part of the Arogya Bharat Yagna, several Vedic rituals are scheduled to be performed at as many as 20 ancient temples spread across the state. Prominent among the temples where the rituals are to be performed on Tuesday, are those at Srrisailam, Simhachalam, Mangalagiri, Annavaram, Simhachalam, and Arasavalli.

The note issued in this regard, dated June 10 states: "Containment of Covid-19 is one of the major task before the mankind as on date. Performance of Homams and Yagams on Auspicious days is one of the way to get rid of the menace. Some major temples are already performing shanti homams etc. from the day of the lockdown."

Andhra Pradesh has been grappling with the covid problem, with the cumulative tally steadily reaching towards the 5,000-mark. On Sunday, the highest single-day tally of 253 cases was reported.