Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 26 (IANS): After months, following the lockdown due to the Covid pandemic, on Wednesday the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple - billed as the world's richest temple, opened for devotees in the morning, said a scion of the erstwhile Travancore royal family.

Adithya Varma told IANS that neither he nor any of his immediate family members recollect such an extended closure of the temple for devotees.

"Even though during the lockdown time, the temple was doing all the routine pujas and prayers, devotees were not allowed. What I am told is that this temple was closed and no pujas were held back in 1750, when there was a local war. That's the legend and what we are told," said Varma.

Meanwhile, Babulu Sankar, a temple official, said that the temple opened its doors for devotees at its usual darshan time on Wednesday morning.

"The darshan was done following Covid protocols which includes sanitising the hands, thermal scanning, contact details of devotees written in a register and ensuring that social distancing norms are maintained. We have now launched a facility for devotees who can book their darshan online," said Sankar.