To save the people from the deadly novel coronavirus, a special Puja was performed at Durga Parameshwari temple and Shaneshwara temple in Rangana Halli village of Karnataka.
Yashwanth Shastri, a priest, said: "We performed this special puja on Friday to save the world from virus and diseases like corona and H1N1."
"Our ancestors used to perform a special puja for the betterment of society and save the world from viruses when they attacked," Yashwanth Shastri told news agency ANI.
138 under observation in Karnataka
The Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Services Department have kept under observation 138 people across the state, a health official confirmed.
"We are observing 138 people across the state, including in Bengaluru," the department's Communicable Diseases Wing Joint Director Prakash Kumar told a news agency.
Global emergency
The novel coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city in December 2019 and has since spread to various cities around the globe.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health crisis.
Stocks around the world have tumbled on fears of the economic fallout from the outbreak in the world's second-biggest economy.
