BackNavratri 2021: Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple to reopen on Oct 7; Check latest guidelines
Mumbai: Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust said that all devotees will be allowed only through pre-booking QR codes on Temple Trust's app
PremiumMumbai's Siddhivinayak temple and all the other temples will be reopened for the devotees from tomorrow, October 7 on the occasion of the Navratri festival. Keeping in mind Maharashtra's Covid-related guidelines, the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust said that all devotees will be allowed only through pre-booking QR codes on Temple Trust's app. The Trust added that only 250 devotees were to be issued QR codes every hour for darshan.
Besides, devotees will get an entry inside the Shirdi Sai Baba and Shani Shingnapur temples from Thursday. Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust has also announced rules for the devotees to enter the temple. The Trust said that only 15,000 devotees who possess online passes will be allowed to take darshan at the temple daily. The prasad counter at the temple will remain closed. There will not be any entry for children below 10 years, pregnant women, sick people, senior citizens above the age of 65, and people without masks in the temple premises.
City's Mumba Devi temple will also open from October 7. The temple will open for fully vaccinated devotees. Besides, the unvaccinated devotees will have to show a Covid-19 negative certificate. Further, flowers, garlands & prasad will remain prohibited.
The civic body in Mumbai has issued an order capping the number of visitors to places of worship to 50% of the total capacity. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has prohibited the famous Garba event during the Navratri festival. It also capped the height of Goddess Durga idols to four feet for community mandals and two feet for household ones. The BMC asked temple management to arrange an online darshan of idols to avoid crowding and use Facebook and other social media platforms to reach out to devotees. At the time of 'aarti' (a ritual of worship), not more than 10 people should be present at the venue and they should follow coronavirus guidelines, the BMC said.
Last month, the Maharashtra government announced the reopening of all religious places from October 7 in the state with Covid-19 protocols, a move that comes amid indication that the second wave of the pandemic is ebbing. However, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged people not to drop guard and continue COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.
The state government issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for devotees and officials managing places of worship to ensure strict implementation of coronavirus-related protocols and curb the spread of the infection. These strict measures include non-distribution of 'prasad' (offerings), no sprinkling of holy water, no touching of statues, idols, or holy books, and staggering the number of visitors to maintain social distancing.
The government direct officials, managing the shrines, to provide separate entry and exit points for devotees, if possible, to avoid crowding.
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