FACT CHECK: Has Jharkhand's `Deoghar Babadham' thrown open for public?

"Permission for devotees to go to Deoghar Babadham," reads the claim on Facebook.

The Deoghar Babadham also known as Vaidyanatha Jyotirlinga temple is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in Jharkhand. In 2020, it shut the temple due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The viral post states general public can now visit the temple.

Original claim: देवघर बाबाधाम में श्रद्धालुओं को जाने की इजाजत।

FACT CHECK:

The claim is false.

The screenshot of the bulletin by News 18 Jharkhand dates back to 31 July 2020.

(view 00:18). In 2020, a limited number of Deoghar Babadham devotees were allowed to visit the temple due to the Covid 19 Pandemic. The Supreme Court passed an order wherein only residents of the state could enter the temple for darshan. It also capped the number of persons visiting the temple, saying that only 50 devotees will be allowed to take darshan every hour. (Source: Financial Express, Times of India)

This clearly indicates that permission for the general public to visit the temple was not granted.

According to a report by Jagran on July 11, 2021, Working President of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee and Jamtara MLA Dr. Irfan Ansari demanded the opening of the doors of Baba Baidyanath Dham temple in Deoghar soon.

He said due to the lockdown imposed, devotees are not able to come and offer prayers, which is a matter of sorrow. In order to improve the economic condition of the Panda community and keeping in mind the faith of all the devotees, it is necessary to open Baba Baidyanath Dham soon. This clearly indicates that although requests are being made to open up the temple for the general public, currently they are not permitted to visit the temple.

Vishwas News contacted Deoghar correspondent RC Sinha who clarified that the temple is not yet open for the general public. "This is old news. There is nothing new in this", he says.

Evidently, Deoghar Babadham is not open to the general public. The claim is false.